Hispanic Heritage Month

We’re thrilled to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month by highlighting nine amazing women within our industry! If you haven’t had a chance to read the blog posts, please take a moment to honor these women by reading their stories on our NWiR Blog posts. From descendants of Kings and ancient pyramids, to struggles with DACA and language barriers, these women have truly given us insight into a variety of cultures representing Mexico, Puerto Rico, El Salvador, Aztec, Zapotec, Mayan and Cuba. We’d like to thank each of these ladies for their honest and candid answers – may we all gain inspiration from these incredible Hispanic women! Each woman has been featured on our social media – so please, take a moment to see their faces and read theirs stories in celebration!

A brief history lesson on how the recognition of Hispanic Heritage started… The observation began under President Lyndon Johnson in 1968 as Hispanic Heritage Week and was expanded in 1988 by President Ronald Reagan to cover a month-long period from September 15 through October 15.

The day of September 15 is significant because it is the anniversary of independence for Latin American countries Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. In addition, Mexico and Chile celebrate their independence days on September 16 and September18, respectively. Also, Columbus Day or Día de la Raza, which is October 12, falls within this 30-day period. To learn even more please visit https://hispanicheritagemonth.gov.

Another significant DEI highlight for October is LGBT History Month.

This month is meant to highlight and celebrate 31 people in history who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender. You can find 2021’s full list, including notable figures such as suffragette Susan B. Anthony and composer Frédéric Chopin on the LGBT History Month’s website.

LGBT History Month was founded by a Missouri high school teacher in 1994 named Rodney Wilson. His goal was to highlight the celebration and teaching of gay and lesbian history. After uniting with other teachers and community leaders, the month of October was chosen as school would be in session and in coordination with Coming Out Day on October 11.
According to GLAAD, “during the early years, the celebration was largely marked by a call to action and commemoration. But since then, LGBT History Month has blossomed into a national coordinated effort to highlight exemplary role models from the LGBT community.”

To learn more please visit the LGBT History Month’s website for further insight and information on this great cause.

We encourage our NWIR community to foster our goal of diversity, equity, and inclusion by taking the time to learn about these great and notable commemorations this month!

Happy Halloween!

It would be remiss of us not to include something on the topic Halloween! “All Hallows’ Eve” comes from an ancient pagan festival celebrated by Celtic people over 2000 years ago called Samhain, meaning “summer’s end”. Today we celebrate with trick-or-treating, costumes, parties and FUN. Join us in celebration by sharing your Halloween pics with the hashtag #nwirhalloween. We can’t wait to see your photos!