In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month and Labor Day, labor leader and community organizer Dolores Huerta will speak at the College of the Canyons Intercultural Center (ICC) at 2 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 19.

The event will feature Huerta and highlight the evolution of public policy, social justice and advocacy over her career as an activist, as well as how young people can serve their communities.

As one of the most famous and celebrated Latinas in the U.S., Huerta has worked for labor rights and social justice for over 50 years. In 1962, she and Cesar Chavez founded the United Farm Workers union, where she served as vice president and played a critical role in many of the union’s accomplishments for four decades.

In 2002, she received the Puffin/Nation $100,000 prize for creative citizenship which she used to establish the Dolores Huerta Foundation (DHF).

The DHF connects groundbreaking community-based organizing with state and national movements to register and educate voters, advocate for education reform, bring about infrastructure improvements in low-income communities, advocate for greater equality for the LGBTQ+ community, and create strong leadership development.

The recipient of numerous awards, Huerta received the Eleanor Roosevelt Humans Rights Award from President Clinton in 1998. In 2012, President Barack Obama bestowed her with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the United States.

A U.S. Department of Labor Hall of Honor inductee, Huerta was the first Latina inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame. She is a former UC Regent and has earned honorary doctorates from universities throughout the United States.

This event is free and open to the public. To RSVP, please click here.

The ICC, which will officially open its doors on Sept. 13, is located on the ground floor of Bonelli Hall at the college’s Valencia campus.