City Of Evanston: Featured Evanstonian

Press release from the City of Evanston:

09/30/2021 11:18 AM

In the short amount of time that Claudia Larrea has been in Evanston, she has already made a big impact, especially for our Spanish-speaking community! 

Claudia was very involved in Rotary International’s youth programs growing up. After learning their headquarters were located in Evanston and knowing that she wanted to live near a large metropolitan city, she decided to visit Evanston and fell in love. In 2018, she made Evanston a part of her community after accepting the position of Evanston Program Director for MetroSquash.

Through this role working in youth sports development, Claudia was able to combine her passions for public health and education, two areas in which she holds Master’s degrees.

MetroSquash is an out-of-school and post-secondary success program that utilizes a long-term holistic model to serve Evanston public school students with a demonstrated need. The program involves squash instruction, academic enrichment, social services and college/career support.

After learning that Claudia spoke Spanish and had a background in translating, many community referrals came in for Spanish-speaking Evanston families to participate in the MetroSquash program. When the pandemic hit, Claudia began working more closely with these families, ensuring their needs were being met and connecting them to community resources.

She also joined the Immigrant subcommittee as a part of the Non-Profit committee of the Mayor’s Task Force which formed during the pandemic. This subcommittee has provided an opportunity for leaders and stakeholders to come together and discuss the needs of the immigrant community as well as resources available to them. 

Claudia has also been involved in the community in other ways. She participated in Leadership Evanston and SEED, and serves on the North Channel Community Rowing Advisory Board.

Born to Peruvian and Argentinian parents, Claudia grew up in Sweden but also spent time with her grandparents in Peru. As a Latina immigrant in Sweden, she worked to assimilate while also trying to embrace her Peruvian and Argentinian roots. In order to do this, she had a Spanish tutor growing up so she could maintain the language. After moving to Miami at 15, she began to embrace her Latina culture more, surrounding herself with peers who embraced their culture.  

“The Latino culture is incredibly diverse and made up of multiple cultures. I love Hispanic Heritage Month because it is something that ties all of these cultures together. People are able to form a connection through language,” said Claudia. “It also serves as an excellent reminder to continuously highlight and uplift Latino voices.”

This press release was produced by the City of Evanston. The views expressed here are the author’s own.