Juanita Senquiz on CHIP

Juanita Senquiz currently serves as president of CHIP, and in her oral history interview for the Latino Lorain Project, she explains that she has been a member of the organization since 1987-88. Senquiz states: "CHIP is for our Latino people. We are there for them. I think it started, way back when, with the busing issue in the Lorain city schools. That was the big issue. That was when CHIP got involved.” 

According to Senquiz, she was originally recruited by Elba Rosario Armstrong to serve as secretary of CHIP when Armstrong was president. At the time, both Senquiz and Armstrong were principals in the Lorain City Schools. In her interview, Senquiz explains that she served in every role in CHIP before becoming president after Angie Martinez resigned from the role. 

In reflecting on CHIP's work over the years, Senquiz explains: “We still advocate for people, if people have issues. If they don’t know who to go to, a lot of them are scared to go to employers, they come to us, so we can be their voices for them.”

Senquiz also discusses CHIP's two key events, a biannual Candidate's Forum and an annual Leadership Conference held every April around Hispanic week. The Candidate's Forum is a chance for Lorain's community members to hear from candidates prior to elections, and the forum is broadcasted on television and YouTube. The Leadership Conference brings speakers to Lorain County Community College each year, followed by a dance to celebrate the event. According to a Lorain Morning Journal article published on April 17, 2019 titled "CHIP leadership conference to focus on mental health," last year's conference invited speakers to address the stigma surrounding mental health in the Latino community. 

Humbly reflecting on her role as president of the organization, Senquiz said: "I always tell people, I’m not CHIP. I’m not CHIP, I’m just the person behind CHIP. To me, it's our CHIP members and our community.”