Alba Mendiola

AAUW Naperville Area and ALMAS (Alliance of Latinos Motivating Action in the Suburbs) are excited to host an inspiring conversation with Alba Mendiola, award-winning educator, writer and speaker, and AAUW grant awardee, on Tuesday, January 14, 2025, at 7 PM via Zoom.

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Mendiola, a dedicated educator, teaches AP® Spanish Language and Broadcast Journalism to Spanish heritage speaker students at Cristo Rey Jesuit High School in Chicago. Her dedication to education earned her the Alan C. Miller Educator of the Year in 2023, awarded by the News Literacy Project.

Before transitioning to the classroom, Mendiola had a successful 18-year career as a Spanish television reporter at Telemundo Chicago and Televisión Azteca in Veracruz, Mexico. Her investigative work earned her the Chicago Regional Emmy® Award seven times.

In 2021, she was honored to receive a Career Development Grant from the American Association of University Women, sponsored in part by funds contributed by AAUW Naperville Area. This invaluable support played a pivotal role in her academic journey at the University of Illinois at Chicago, where she earned a master’s degree in teaching.

Born and raised in Mexico, Mendiola takes pride in her immigrant background. She holds a B.S. in Communications from the prestigious Tec de Monterrey.

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If you could help ease the divisions in America would you do it? Is our language treating the other side with contempt or dignity? 

Join AAUW Naperville Area for What’s Your Dignity Index?, an interactive session to learn how to use the Dignity Index. This free community program begins at 7 PM on Tuesday, October 8, 2024, at Naper Blvd Library, 2035 Naper Blvd, Naperville. Come early at 6:30 PM and join us for informal social time. Please register to save your spot – space is limited.

Originated by students and faculty at the University of Utah, and shared by our sister AAUW Batavia-Geneva-St. Charles branch, the Dignity Index shows that it is not our disagreements that cause division in our country; it’s what we do when we disagree. The Index is an 8 point scale that scores speech along a continuum from contempt to dignity.

Members and potential members are invited to AAUW Naperville Area’s Caff & Laff — an opportunity to meetup on a weekday morning in a casual and social setting. We get together from 10:30-11:45 AM on the first Thursdays of most months at different cafes and parks. Stop by and have a morning coffee with us! No RSVP necessary. To receive schedule updates and reminders, contact Estela,

Oct. 3, 2024 – Peet’s Coffee, 686 E. Ogden Avenue, Naperville
Nov. 7, 2024 – Panera, 2775 Showplace Dr., Suite 123, Naperville
Dec. 5, 2024 – Sugar Milk Cafe, 1250 W. Ogden Ave., Naperville
Jan. 2 & Feb. 6, 2025 – No meeting
March 6, 2025 – Nature’s Best Cafe, 1904 Brookdale Rd., Suite 104, Naperville
April 3, 2025 – Sweetwater’s Coffee and Tea, 110 S. Washington, Naperville
May 1, 2025 – Sugar Milk Cafe, 1250 W. Ogden Ave., Naperville
June 5, 2025 – Jaycees Park, 401 S. Webster St., Naperville

The kids will be back in school and the weather will be turning. Join us for a refreshing morning of coffee, conversation and light breakfast at DuPage River Park Picnic Shelter, 808 Royce Road, Naperville, from 9:30 – 11:30 AM. There is no charge for this event but RSVPs are appreciated — please email Lee, leeeastman44@gmail.com.

Renew friendships and meet our new members. Potential new members are always welcome! We will hear plans for the coming year and AAUW’s nonpartisan focus on engaging and educating voters to turnout in November. At this event we will be writing postcards to encourage people to vote, and Susan Marshall, our I-ACT Chair, will be available to register people to vote in the state of Illinois.