FAYETTEVILLE — It was an unidentified caller Mireya Reith was happy to hear from: a White House staffer phoning to tell the Fayetteville resident she was being recognized as a Cesar Chavez Champion of Change, honoring her work with immigrants.
“I was very humbled and surprised when they selected us,” Reith said. “I very much appreciated that they recognized work with immigrants doesn’t have to be specific to places like California, Texas or New York.”
The award is named for the co-founder of the National Farm Workers Association (later changed to United Farm Workers). Chavez, the son of immigrant farm workers, campaigned for higher wages and other protections for farm workers. He led California grape pickers in a five-year strike in the 1960s and organized a boycott to protest pesticide use on table grapes in the 1980s.
The Cesar Chavez Champions of Change recognizes people who have worked to improve the lives of others and are making positive changes in their communities. Reith was one of 10 people chosen for the award this year. They were honored March 26 at an event in Washington, D.C., that included a panel discussion by the 10 honorees and a visit to the Oval Office to meet President Barack Obama. Reith, executive director and co-founder of the Arkansas United Community Coalition, which advocates for immigrant rights, was surprised by the award.
Reith, an expert in international political development, calls Fayetteville home but was born in Wisconsin and attended Catholic school there through eighth grade when her family moved south.
“My parents were looking to escape the cold of the North,” she recalled. “We came (to Fayetteville) for spring break and then my father had an opportunity for employment at the University of Arkansas.”
Reith graduated from Fayetteville High School and earned degrees from Williams College in Williamstown, Mass., and Columbia University in New York. She then embarked on a 14-year career that took her to five continents and spanned many projects working with the world’s poor.
“Toward the end of my time (in that work), I was especially focused on women and political participation,” Reith said.
When she returned to Fayetteville, Reith began volunteering with various groups. She was drawn to immigration issues by her experience and her family — her father was from Wisconsin, her mother from Mexico and Reith describes herself as a Mexican immigrant. Arkansas’ Latino population had been growing for years but by the last decade, its growth was reportedly the fourth-fastest of any state in the nation, she said.
The AUCC was formed by several non-profit groups that saw there was no organization helping immigrants develop their leadership potential, Reith explained. Volunteers in 15 Arkansas communities work with immigrants.
“We don’t distinguish by status,” Reith said. “Many are looking to call Arkansas their long-term home. We work with any individual that wants to help Arkansas and their communities. … We don’t ask about their status.”
Reith said the organization’s goal is to empower immigrants through leadership development and giving them “the chance to grow by taking on projects meaningful to them and to their communities.”
Incorporated in 2010 and fully operational since January 2012, the organization claims to have helped 20,000 immigrants register to vote and 400 to apply for citizenship. Reith frequently works with youth groups and advocates of the DREAM Act — the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act — a proposal to grant permanent residency to immigrant high school graduates under certain conditions.
Reith is a parishioner at St. Joseph Church in Fayetteville.
“I believe that the Catholic Church speaks loudly for social justice and I’ve always very much appreciated it,” Reith said. “It’s been a strong influence on my own career. … I very much selected this career to live a life of service for others less fortunate than myself.”
“It’s a special privilege to get to work so closely with the Catholic Church,” she added, noting that there’s an active parish in most communities where AUCC works.
Reith also serves on the Arkansas Board of Education, appointed by Gov. Mike Beebe in 2010. She is the first Latina and the youngest person ever appointed to the board.