Dear WOC Visitor,

Hello, and welcome to Women's Ordination Conference! I hope you join us in taking WOC's ministries and programs to the next level.

To give you some background information, I was born and raised in the commonwealth of Puerto Rico, where I earned a Bachelors degree in Modern Languages with a focus on translation at the University of Puerto Rico. I moved to Florida five years ago to work for the Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration as the Miami Voter Registration Officer. Puerto Ricans are United States citizens, and my mandate was to increase our numbers in the November 2004 election. After being promoted to the Deputy National Coordinator, I moved to Washington, D.C., and in this capacity, I oversaw the most successful national, non-partisan, Hispanic voter registration campaign in the United States.

Being a native-born Spanish speaker raised in a culture devoted to the Catholic Church and Mother Mary, I am confident that my skills and in-depth understanding of the church will be beneficial to WOC. Also, I am here to serve you because I feel called to ordination myself. It is a privilege to serve as an advocate for women's ordination within the Roman Catholic Church because I have a long history of church participation, serving as a catechist, a youth retreat leader and a servant for the elders. In addition, this opportunity allows me to combine my professional life with my heart's desire to serve as an ordained woman priest and help other women do the same.

In addition to fulfilling my duties as Program Director, I will hold the vision of a renewing Roman Catholic Church in which the Divine Feminine is honored, women are ordained and the Discipleship of Equals is a reality.

I look forward to meeting and working with you. Please feel free to contact me if you have comments or questions or would like to share your stories with me. You may reach me at nvazquez@womensordination.org or 703-352-1006.

Wishing you peace and abundance in every way,

Nidza D. Vazquez, Program Director