INDEX renews educational partnership with Northern Essex Community College to support Dominicans in Lawrence

Massachusetts.- The Vice Ministry for Dominican Communities Abroad (MIREX) and the Institute of Dominicans Abroad (INDEX) renewed a collaboration agreement with Northern Essex Community College (NECC) to expand educational, technological, and community opportunities for the Dominican diaspora in Lawrence, Massachusetts. The signing, part of Dominican Heritage Week 2025, took place on NECC’s Lawrence campus and was led by Ambassador Celinés Toribio and NECC Vice President Naydeen González De Jesús.

The agreement ensures continued access to advanced classrooms, digital resources, literacy workshops, language instruction, and civic engagement spaces, all coordinated by INDEX to be inclusive, free, and culturally relevant. Vice Minister Toribio highlighted that with approximately 49,000 Dominicans living in Lawrence, the agreement strengthens education, innovation, and community ties while advancing the first pillar of Dominican foreign policy: protecting compatriots abroad.

The initiative, coordinated by Anna Hernández of the Vice Ministry, impacts NECC’s largely Hispanic student body—60% of 4,000 students are Hispanic, with around 80% of those of Dominican descent.