Meet the faces of the Make Portuguese Count™ Campaign!
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PALCUS is proud to introduce the three Portuguese-American young adults who depict pride and enthusiasm for their culture. They will provide the inspiration for the next phase of the Make Portuguese Count™ in the 2020 Census Campaign.
Here's a little more about these bright, young Portuguese Americans:
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Mikel Santos: Mikel's family hails from Leiria and Lisbon, Portugal. He is currently an 11th grade student at Patchogue Medford High School and plays soccer on his high school varsity team and for Susa Academy. He speaks and reads Portuguese fluently, and chooses to celebrate his Portuguese culture by dancing in the Rancho Aldeias de Portugal and by participating as a member of the NYPALC Youth Council.
Emily Portal: Emily's family is from Arcos de Valdevez, Portugal. Emily is studying at Stony Brook University on the Pre-Med track majoring in Biology and Psychology. Her activities include performing with the Rancho Aldeias de Portugal and playing collegiate level women's tennis.
John Santos and his family are from Caldas da Rainha, Portugal. John is currently studying Technological Systems Management at Stony Brook University's College of Engineering and Applied Sciences. He celebrates his Portuguese heritage by dancing in the Rancho Aldeias de Portugal.
(L-R) Mikel Santos, Emily Portal, John Santos at Farmingville, NY Memorial Day Parade representing
the Portuguese-American Center of Suffolk County,
Photo courtesy of Benvinda Santos
PALCUS is grateful for the full support of the government of Portugal through its
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Embassy of Portugal to the U.S. and its Consulates.
View the message of support from Secretário das Comunidades Portugueses José Luís Carneiro
PALCUS gratefully acknowledges the financial support of
and the in-kind support of
The Institute for Portuguese and Lusophone World Studies at
Rhode Island College is the official translator of Make Portuguese Count™ bilingual materials.
Silvia Oliveira, Ph.D., Director
and Associate Professor of Portuguese Studies, Department of Modern Languages
![LUNAER---Logo-[2000x2000].jpg](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/b6865f_f783f69ad2e2460a94a6f519780ce037~mv2_d_2000_2000_s_2.jpg/v1/fill/w_113,h_113,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_avif,quality_auto/LUNAER---Logo-%5B2000x2000%5D.jpg){kind=logo}
Make Portuguese Count™ logo and branding is the design of
LUNAER Media and Consulting, LLC
João Francisco
Chief Executive Officer
New York City
Media Partners
National Complete Count Committee
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PALCUS is proud to claim the first National Complete Count Committee in the history of the U.S. Census Bureau.
Ordinarily, Complete Count Committees are formed within states and municipalities with the oversight of each of the Census Bureau’s six district offices. Because of its national reach, PALCUS has been invited by the bureau to form this national CCC to appeal to Portuguese Americans from coast to coast to ensure that each resident of the United States who identifies as Portuguese origin is counted.
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Chaired by PALCUS, the CCC is comprised by professionals with a variety of skill sets in business, marketing and branding, technology, academics, campaign management and communications.
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Marie R. Fraley, National Campaign Director - Chair
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Paula de Brito Cohen, U.S. Representative, Marketaccess-Portugal (DC)
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Dulce Maria Scott, Ph.D., PALCUS Research Consultant, Professor of Sociology and Criminal Justice, Anderson University (IN)
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Paul do Forno, Managing Director, Deloitte Digital (OH)
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Helena da Silva Hughes, Executive Director, Immigrants’ Assistance Center(MA)
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Lee Neves, Owner and Principal, CrossCurrents LLC (CA)
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Silvia Oliveira, Ph.D., Associate Professor and Director, Institute for Portuguese and Lusophone World Studies at Rhode Island College (RI)
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David Rocha, Political Science Major, UC-Berkeley (CA)
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Angela Costa Simões, PALCUS Chair/Founder, Red Roof Industries (CA)
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Katherine Soares, PALCUS Vice-Chair/Public Information Officer, County of Union, New Jersey (NJ)
Organizational Structure
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PALCUS Board of Directors: establishes the authority for the campaign, in conjunction with the U.S. Census Bureau, providing oversight of its components while keeping with the goals and objectives of the campaign as guided by PALCUS and U.S. Census policies.
PALCUS National Complete Count Committee: designs strategies and procedures for the campaign with the National Director under the guidelines of the U.S. Census Bureau through the Partnership Coordinator
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PALCUS National Census Director: implements the campaign strategy with the assistance of the National Complete Count Committee
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Area Campaign Captains: identify and engage local Affiliated Organizations, government and business groups as well as other special populations within their geographic territory for campaign education and mobilization.
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Affiliated Organizations: work with Area Campaign Captains through the Organization Liaison for the dissemination of information and material to its membership and surrounding community.
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