Alumna highlights importance of voting

Mindy Ysasi-Castanon, a 2003 alumna, said voting is our civic obligation.

Ysasi-Castanon was the guest speaker at “The Power of the Latino Vote,” sponsored by the Office of Multicultural Affairs September 26. The event was part of Grand Valley’s Hispanic Heritage Month celebration.

Ysasi-Castanon said West Michigan is becoming younger and more diverse and encourages the younger generation to get involved politically.

Veronica Beltran, vice president of Sigma Lambda Gamma, joined her and discussed the importance of Latino youth civic engagement. The Latina-based sorority has been active in Voto Latino’s Rep Your Letters Campaign, an initiative that includes support from Latina-based Greek organizations to help register people to vote for the midterm elections in November.

She said an analysis by Latino decisions suggests that Hispanic voters could determine the outcome of 33 narrowly contested House seats in the midterm election. “Registration is key to getting Latinos to vote,” Beltran said. 

Ysasi-Castanon is currently running for school board in Grand Rapids and hopes to be the first Latina elected to that position. “My experiences at GVSU set me on a footing to be a candidate today,” she said. 

Ysasi-Castanon is an HR consultant for clinical areas at Spectrum Health in Grand Rapids. She began her professional career with Cascade Engineering as an intern and has worked as an HR consultant for Herman Miller. She graduated from Grand Valley in 2003 with a bachelor’s degree in marketing and human resources and community relations.