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Understand Your Impact

Interesting Stories, News, and Commentaries On Cultural Competency

World AIDS Day and Preventing HIV Stigma

Originally published for Equality Healthcare Consulting. Each year, the beginning of December marks the important observance of World AIDS Day, and the entire month is dedicated to raising awareness and promoting testing and prevention of this disease’s transmission. The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services shares that over 35,000 new HIV infections are […]

Diabetic Disparities: National Diabetes Month

Originally published at Equality Healthcare Consulting. November is recognized as National Diabetes Month, an important time to raise awareness and education to promote prevention and proper treatment. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC’s) 2022 statistics report, over 10 percent of Americans live with diabetes, totaling over 37 million people. Sadly, […]

National Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Originally published for Equality Healthcare Consulting October is a time when, in many areas across the U.S., autumn leaves change to beautiful orange, yellow, red, and pink hues. Outside of nature, we also see that rosy pink prominently shown in logos, professional sports team jerseys, and on commemorative ribbons that symbolize and honor the journeys […]

Wellness Beyond Wrinkles: Healthy Aging Month

Originally posted by Equality Healthcare Consulting The concept of aging gracefully may be defined differently from one person to the next, and some with fewer wrinkles than others, but healthy aging is a journey we all take if we’re fortunate enough to live long lives. You may have heard the statement, “Getting older surely beats […]

Immunization Conversations: National Immunization Awareness Month

Originally posted by Equality Healthcare Consulting Pumpkin spice season is around the corner, though unfortunately, flu season is by its side. August is an opportune time for healthcare practitioners to have immunization conversations about the flu shot and other vaccinations and benefits that can protect patients against serious illness. National Immunization Awareness Month is […]

Minority Mental Health Awareness Month

Minority Mental Health Awareness Month: Promoting Holistic Well-Being One Step at a Time Patients come from all walks of life with unique identities, backgrounds and stories to tell. Lived experiences — in addition to biological factors and family history — can shape one’s physical, social, emotional and mental well-being. While it may be easy to […]

Take PRIDE in Your Health!

June is Pride Month in the United States: an important time to honor LGBTQ+ history and to celebrate diversity in its many forms. This is an opportunity to reflect on the Stonewall Riots and impacts throughout the preceding decades, and today, we can learn more about lived experiences of the LGBTQ+ community across the spectrums […]

By a Stroke of Luck: Protecting LGBTQ+ Patients Against Stroke Risk

Strokes can be life altering — or even life ending, with often a stroke of luck being the difference between life and death. These medical emergencies are the No. 5 cause of death and a leading cause of disability in the U.S. While strokes were the No. 4 leading cause of death in the past, […]

Alcohol Awareness Month and LGBTQ+ Patient Health

Beer, wine, margaritas, rum runners, whiskey sours, and beyond: alcohol comes in many forms, just like the diversity of the individuals who drink it. April is Alcohol Awareness Month: an ideal time to shed light on the way drinking and alcohol abuse may impact the well-being of ourselves and our patients and explore the reasons […]

National Kidney Month: Building Paths for LGBTQ+ Patients

National Kidney Month: Building Paths for LGBTQ+ Patients March is National Kidney Month, and 2022’s theme focuses on building paths to better kidney care. According to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, or NIDDK, chronic kidney disease is a serious condition that affects 1 in 7 U.S. adults – an […]

S1 E1 From Book to Healthcare Consultancy, How Dina’s Marketing Project Sparked a New Business

When Society’s Expectations Collide With the Authentic Self. We had a really interesting discussion that covered a lot of ground. Listen here.

What is Gender Affirming Healthcare?

Thursday, April 18, 2019

Featuring Keynote Speaker:
Dina Proto (She/Her/Hers)
A skilled speaker, trainer, and author of Identity Impact, Dina, facilitates effective and compassionate conversations around the emotional subject of gender identity. She brings her experience caring for patients and her roles as mother, entrepreneur, and advocate for the LGBTQ community to her consulting work with the education, corporate, medical, insurance, small business, and government sectors. Read more

044: Follow Your Heart and Be a Change Agent in Your Business with Author and Speaker, Dina Proto

Oct 24

Written By Rhodes Perry

As a Registered Nurse, Author, and Speaker, Dina Proto offers compelling insight into the health issues of those within the LGBTQ community. Dina’s spirited approach motivates engagement to foster change by creating compassionate awareness of the health care inequalities faced by those in the LGBTQ community, how they are created, and how to overcome them. When Dina isn’t busy with her business, she’s focused on supporting other business owners affiliated with the Las Vegas LGBTQ Chamber of Commerce. Listen Here.

AUTHOR INTERVIEW WITH DINA PROTO

Check out this Facebook Live video with Dina Proto, RN, about her book launch of Identity Impact: When Society’s Expectations Collide with the Authentic Self. Dina is interviewed by Jenn Grace of Publish Your Purpose.

Dina Proto: Cultivating Change Through Communication

Her work is diverse—nurse, author, speaker and business owner. Her social engagement runs deep as she advocates for the LGBTQ community in various roles including President of GLCCNV. Yet running through all of Dina Proto ’s endeavors is her conviction that communication leads to change. Read more.

Largest LGBT community business event kicks off in Las Vegas

Diversity has come a long way since the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce first opened its doors 15 years ago.

But panelists discussing political and cultural issues and their effects on gay businesses say what took 15 years to accomplish could disappear in 15 months unless the business community takes a stand on gender diversity issues, including discrimination and matters like transgender bathroom laws. Read more.

GLCNV Welcome

One Year Later: Marriage Equality Fight Shifts To Economic Equality

Jun 27, 2016

Rachel Christiansen

One year ago this week, the United States Supreme Court struck down a ban on same-sex marriages.

In Nevada, same-sex marriages had been legal since 2014. The SCOTUS decision opened the door, though, to greater marketing of same-sex marriages throughout Las Vegas, whose numerous chapels cater to thousands of tourists each year. Listen here.

For the record: Clinton: ‘Everything I can’

Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton held a town hall style meeting in Las Vegas August 18. Two of the approximately one dozen questions fielded by the candidate concerned LGBT issues. The following is a transcript of those questions from a YouTube video of the event.

Audience member (at approximately 26:00 minutes): Hello, Hillary. My name is Dina Proto. I am a local LGBT business owner and founding president of the lesbian and gay chamber of commerce here in Nevada. …So my question to you is: How are you going to support our LGBT community in our country, improving economic equality, creating safe spaces for our youth –can you speak to that? Read more.

Businesses find new opportunities with LGBT certification

October 28, 2016

Originally published by www.vegasinc.com. Written by Danielle Birkin

Dina Proto, cofounder of Teazled Greeting Cards and Gifts, which focuses on the needs of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, was looking for ways to grow the business she launched with her wife in 2011. Read more.

A friend suggested Proto consider having her venture certified as a women-owned business enterprise. More…

Las Vegas gay bar hosts fundraiser for families of Orlando shooting victims

Wednesday nights are usually slow at the Phoenix Bar and Lounge, a gay bar on
West Sahara Avenue near Arville Street.
But by 8 p.m. more than 50 people from the LGBT community, as well as many
straight allies, had gathered there to raise money for the families of the
Orlando, Florida, shooting victims. And the crowd was only expected to grow as
the night went on. Read More.

Las Vegas LGBT center holds vigil for Orlando shooting victims – PHOTOS

In the words of Fred Rogers, in times of tragedy, “look for the helpers” —
helpers like Kurt Divich.
Divich, a Las Vegas native and local author, was in Orlando, Florida, at the time shooter Omar ateen opened fire at a gay nightclub, killing 50 people and injuring 53 more. In the few short hours after the shooting, Divich took time away from his family vacation to Disney World and joined the thousands of other helpers who stood in line to donate blood. Read More.

Container Park welcomes five widely varying new businesses

Container Park, Downtown Project’s flagship development, on Thursday welcomed five new businesses to its entrepreneurial retail incubator setting in downtown Las Vegas.

All the businesses are self-financed and aren’t receiving any investment money from Downtown Project, Tony Hsieh’s $350 million redevelopment initiative. Read more.

SENTIMENT GETS INCLUSIVE, THANKS TO LOCAL LGBT CARD COMPANY TEAZLED

The trip to the greeting-card aisle can be an agonizing one, sifting through the overly sentimental and the inappropriately funny. But what if none of the cards actually works, say, if you’re looking for a wedding card for two brides or a Father’s Day card for two dads?

Enter Teazled, an LGBT-owned greeting-card company based here in Las Vegas. Dina Proto, who co-owns Teazled with her wife Dina “Dom” Poist-Proto, says a Mother’s Day card made by their daughter was the seed. Read more.

Valentine’s Day Rosier for Same-Sex Teen Romance

(WOMENSENEWS)–For the first time lesbian teens can see their relationships reflected in Hallmark ads. The Kansas City, Mo., greeting card giant is running an ad campaign featuring real couples sharing their feelings without saying “love.” One of these couples is a mixed-race same-sex couple who have been together for two years. “You make my heart 50 times bigger,” Eugenia say to her girlfriend Corinna. Read more.

Business conference for gays, lesbians draws 700

Dina Proto needed a way to take her greeting card business to the next level.

And thanks to the certification and business connections she made through the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, or NGLCC, Proto’s company, Teazled, gained access to mainstream, national stores. Read more

Chamber president urges Nevada’s LGBT businesses to seek certification

By Melissa Lowery
In 2011, when Dina Proto founded Teazled LLC to create greeting cards and became certified as a LGBT business enterprise through the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce that same year, she was surprised to learn that only three other businesses in Nevada were certified. After realizing the direct impact certification had on the ability to grow Teazled, she sought to provide education and outreach to other LGBT business enterprises, allies and corporate partners as founder and president of the Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce Nevada. Learn more.

QVEGAS MAGAZINE WOMEN’S ISSUE

Published on Jan 1, 2013

Ladies First! 2013 Women’s Issue featuring Dina & Dina of Teazled –a greeting card company. Find out where Las Vegas ladies hang out. Learn more about domestic violence in the LGBT community and grab some tips on purchasing life insurance for those you love. Plus Q&A with Frenchie Davis, Best of QVegas Nominations, and OUTMusic Award Winners. Click to read more.

IMPACTFUL Resources

Articles

Experiences and views of LGBTQ Americans