2023 Scholarship selection committee
PATHere.org is pleased to announce the members of its 2023 Scholarship Committee: Pamela Alva, Eunice Cortez, and Mary Luz Marques, who have the responsibility of evaluating the candidates and selecting the recipients of PATHere.org’s 2023 Scholarships. We thank each of the committee members for her efforts to further the goals of this educational program.
Pamela Alva
Pamela Alva is a family nurse practitioner who works in a Philadelphia health center as a primary care provider. Her professional career began upon graduation from La Salle University in Philadelphia in 2012 with a bachelor’s degree in nursing, which was possible with the aid of the Peruvian-American scholarship granted by ANPA.
Following her passion, she moved to the Dominican Republic for 2 years, where she worked as a volunteer for a medical NGO providing medical care to remote communities in the Puerto Plata area l. She serves currently as a board member of this organization. Upon returning from her internship, she worked at Jefferson Hospital in Philadelphia as a clinical nurse on the telemetry floor for 4 years. Guided by her medical vocation of service to the underserved, she attended Case Western Reserved University in Ohio, where she received her Master’s of Nurse Practitioner in Pediatrics with a subspecialty in family medicine. She enjoys running, reading public health books especially her favorite author/physician Dr. Paul Farmer, traveling, and spending time with her loved ones.
Eunice Cortez
Eunice Cortez, a native from Peru, completed her undergraduate studies at the National University of San Marcos, in Lima, and her graduate studies in the United States, where she was awarded her master’s and doctoral degrees by Temple University. Dr. Cortez’s doctoral dissertation “Andean Spanish in Peru: Acquisition, Variation and Change in the Speech of Huancayo” was but the start of this scholar’s
engagement in sociolinguistic research on Peru, a topic on which she has published her opus Identidades del español andino: Estudio sociolingüístico en la ciudad de Huancayo (Identities of Andino Spanish: A Sociolinguistic Study in the City of Huancayo). Likewise, Dr. Cortez has deepened both the academic community and the general public’s knowledge of the issues concerning language and society and Peru through journal publications and frequent presentations both in Peru and in the United States.
In addition to her valued and copious academic contributions, Dr. Cortez has taught a full repertoire of courses in language and literature at Temple University and Lehigh University, where at the latter, she holds the post of teaching associate professor in the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures. Furthermore, in her years of service at Lehigh, Dr. Cortez has held and continues to hold numerous administrative and academic advisory positions. Most recently, Dr. Cortez authorized the organization Peruvian Americans Together Here.org (PATHere.org) to post on its webpage her article “Nuestra Diversidad Lingüística” as part of the organization’s cultural program in honor of Peru’s Bicentennial Independence celebration.
MARY LUZ MARQUES
Mary Luz Marques works as a bilingual Library Coordinator at the Free Library of Philadelphia (FLP). Ms. Marques served as REFORMA Northeast (RNE). President for 2015-2016 — the goal of this organization is to advocate for the improvement of library and information services to Latinos currently, she supports RNE as the Chair of the Leadership Institute. Ms. Marques holds a Master’s Degree in Library and Information Science from Clarion University (USA), and a second Master’s Degree in Bilingual/Bicultural Studies from La Salle University (USA), and a Bachelor’s Degree in Communication Science, Journalism, from Inca Garcilaso de la Vega University (Peru).
Ms. Marques is passionate about diversity, culture awareness, and cross-cultural communication in libraries. Some of her blog postings are on the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), New Professionals Special Interest Group (NPSIG) webpage.
She co-presented at the Public Library Association (PLA) 2012 “Total Branch Makeover: A Six Months Action Plan” and PLA 2018 “Curious About #FreeLibraryofPride: A Successful Collaborative Story.”
In her volunteer time, Ms. Marques writes for Impacto Newspaper, as a freelancer, and leads the board of the non-profit organization Acción Colombia. Currently, she supports the Philadelphia Latin American Book Fair as the Coordinator of Education. In 2022, Ms. Marques was recognized by Philadelphia Councilman At-Large David Oh for her contributions to this community project. Ms. Marques loves to travel and to learn about other cultures and traditions. Also, she adores capturing special moments with her creative photography and enjoys being in contact with nature through practicing road biking with her husband and friends.