President’s Message

OSCAR MICHELEN

2023-2024

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It was my pleasure and honor to be sworn in as President of The Long Island Hispanic Bar Association on September 21, 2023, at our Annual Scholarship Gala. As a Dominican immigrant who grew up in the Bronx, it was an amazing experience to stand at the podium and address the Gala as the incoming President.

I want to thank all our distinguished guests, judges, sponsors, legislators, and the incoming LIHBA Board for making this our most successful Gala ever. Our scholarship recipients this year were among the finest we have ever acknowledged and I know they will continue to move LIHBA in a positive, successful  direction in the future.

This will be a critical year for LIHBA. In the past, we have always been so strong at community outreach. This year, I’d like LIHBA  to continue that outreach of course but also want to  expand our support to another underserved community  - Latino law students and new Latino lawyers.  Providing mentorship to the growing number of Latino law students will be a strong focus of the upcoming year.

LIHBA will also be at the forefront of issues that affect our community.

We are lawyers, we are leaders, therefore we should also take a stand on issues that are vital to our community – affirmative action, voting rights, redistricting, housing, and immigration rights to name a few. LIHBA can be counted on to be a source for guidance and assistance and more importantly a voice  - a loud voice - for the Latino community.  I look forward to engaging in those issues and I ask all of you to continue to support LIHBA in our efforts. We cannot do what we do without your continued support.

¡Siempre en la lucha y siempre Pa’lante!  Thank you all so much.

 

Oscar Michelen