December 8 & 9, 2011, in Chicago
Chicago, IL. – St. Augustine College, the Instituto Cervantes, the Hispanic Leaders Association, in collaboration with the Spain’s Foreign Office, Fundación Carolina and the Chicago Council of Global Affairs of Chicago, will present The International Symposium ‘The Emerging Economic Value of Spanish the U.S.’ on December 8 & 9, 2011, at the Instituto Cervantes of Chicago, 31 W. Ohio, in Chicago.
The event will offer a forum for discussion about the demographic change that the United States is experiencing due to the unprecedented growth of the Hispanic population and the opportunity for greater cooperation and commerce, driven in great part by the dramatic growth of the use of the Spanish language in the United States. Some facts: there are now approximately 36 million people in the country who speak Spanish; by 2025, over half of American families will be bicultural.
Some of the presenters and participants include: Jorge Dezcallar, Ambassador of Spain to the United States; Gery Chico, President of the Illinois State Board of Education; Kenneth McClintock Hernandez, Puerto Rico Secretary of State; Al Zapanta, President & CEO, U.S. Mexico Chamber of Commerce; Patria de Lancer Julnes, President of The Asociación de Líderes Hispanos; Fabiola Rodriguez-Ciampoli, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public Diplomacy in the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs; Ignacio Olmos, Executive Director Instituto Cervantes of Chicago; Andrew C. Sund, President of St. Augustine College; Silvia Puente, Executive Director of the Latino Policy Forum; Omar Duque, President & CEO, Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce; Norman Ruano, Vice-President, Institute for Workforce Education (SAC); John Trainor, General Manager, Hoy Chicago; Alejandro Escalona, Chicago Sun- Times Columnist.
The sessions take place on Thursday, December 8, 4:30pm-9:00pm, and Friday, December 9, 9:00am-3:00pm. The panels will be conducted in English and Spanish, with simultaneous translations, and with the aim of opening a national and international dialogue to generate ideas for leveraging these opportunities. For full information and to register visit www.chicago.cervantes.es or contact Isabel Machado at chicago@cervantes.es or 312-335-1996.
