Mireya Reith, founding executive director of the Arkansas United Community Coalition, will provide the 2017 Arkansas Tech University Hispanic Heritage Month keynote lecture on Tuesday, Oct. 10.
The event will begin at 7 p.m. in Ross Pendergraft Library and Technology Center room 300. The library is located at 305 West Q Street in Russellville. Admission will be free and open to the public.
Reith grew up in Fayetteville as the daughter of a Mexican immigrant. She went on to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science and Spanish from Williams College in Massachusetts and a master’s degree in international affairs from Columbia University in New York.
Over a span of 14 years, Reith worked in international political development on five continents. She served in the Peace Corps and sought to engage marginalized communities in democratic processes before bringing that experience home to Arkansas in 2010.
Since returning to the Natural State, Reith has provided leadership in immigrant integration and community development through the Arkansas United Community Coalition and by developing a youth civic association called the New Latino Movement.
Reith is currently serving a seven-year term as an appointed member of the Arkansas State Board of Education. She is the first Latina appointed to that board.
The White House, the Mexican Consulate in Little Rock, Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families and the Arkansas Times are among the organizations that have presented Reith with awards for her efforts on behalf of others.
