Empowerment
Stacie de Armas
Stacie de Armas stands as a steadfast advocate for diversity and inclusion in the media and entertainment landscape, as well as an advocate for investing in diverse audience groups. As a force behind Nielsen's inclusive intelligence and initiatives, she expertly navigates the intersections of inclusion, identity research, and diverse audience representation in mainstream media. With a strong background in media measurement and consumer behavior, Stacie leverages her expertise to drive positive change at the crossroads of community, advocacy, and entertainment.
Lorraine Cortés-Vázquez
As substantive agents of change, few Latino leaders have had an impact that can so broadly encompass government, corporate and non-profit spheres. Lorraine Cortés-Vázquez is that rare case. Today, this Bronx-born American of strong Puerto Rican and Dominican roots, who had already made us proud of her high-level post as New York State’s Secretary of State, is the current Commissioner of the New York City Department for the Aging. However, it was her leadership position at the iconic non-profit social giant, AARP, that allowed Cortés-Vázquez to potentiate and expand the multifaceted mission of empowerment, and the commitment of that organization, to the highly populated 50-plus Latino and Multicultural segments, while - at the same time - strengthening, like never before, the presence of the AARP brand in the national Hispanic media landscape.
Ana Madan
Ana Madan has championed Hispanic marketing efforts and has been an advocate for her community within the McDonald’s system throughout her career. Her last name, Madan, is synonymous with torch-bearing that started with her father, Roberto, and has been continued with Ana in promoting “golden opportunities”for Latinos in America.
Cristina Saralegui
Cristina Saralegui’s incredible career as a talk show host, entrepreneur, and advocate for various causes is viewed as one of a champion who broke new ground and revolutionized Hispanic media and the storylines about the Latino community. One could say creating powerful editorial content ran in her veins, as her father was a publishing icon in Havana. However, Cristina’s parents did not initially support her career aspirations. Nonetheless, Cristina pursued a career in communications and creative writing and would eventually become the editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan en Español. Under her joint leadership with dear friend, Helen Gurley Brown, the publication became a huge success in the U.S., Latin America and Spain.
Teresa Menéndez
When it didn’t exist, the Latinas we recognize this month often built the infrastructure. Teresa Menéndez was definitely one of them. Teresa started her path in market research via a work study program at Florida State University that helped her fund her education. At that time, the Florida State Legislature had granted monies to FSU to assess the economic impact the influx of Cubans would have on the state. Upon graduation, Teresa was hired by a local research firm, where she managed general consumer research projects for Coca-Cola. While Teresa found that work to be interesting, she was passionate about assignments where she could utilize her knowledge and skill sets in Hispanic research beyond Florida, and she began searching for firms that specialized in the Hispanic consumer audience and with projects that were national in scale. In doing so, she realized there were only two, and in 1980, she founded Menendez International Hispanic Research.
Gisela Girard
With a Bachelor's of Arts and Political Science, and a Master of Arts and Urban Studies, Gisela Girard started as a researcher conducting commercial real estate feasibility studies, and, with her own company, she marketed international properties in the U.S.A., Mexico and Argentina. But in 1999, her strategic mind guided her in a new direction. Along with her husband Al Aguilar (a former founding partner of pioneering giant Sosa, Bromley,Aguilar & Associates), they embarked on a joint entrepreneurial journey and founded Creative Civilization--An Aguilar/Girard Agency.
Carmen Sepúlveda
Carmen Sepúlveda was born a changemaker in the PR and Communications field and is a natural and gifted communicator. For her, driving change is not just a role, it’s a purpose she has delivered on throughout her entire 30+ year career. This is particularly true as it pertains to reaching and including diverse and multicultural communities through PR. She has dedicated her career to advocating for multicultural communities and building bridges between the brands she represents and communities they serve. Additionally, she has championed and helped advance the work of ethnic media to promote a diverse media landscape, not only by ensuring they are included in pitches so they can break the stories for the communities they serve but also by encouraging her clients/employers to support trade organizations, such as the National Association of Hispanic Journalist and National Association of Black Journalists, that nurture and promote ethnic journalists and producers.
The War on “Woke” and the Future of Multicultural Marketing
In June 2020, The ANA and its diversity initiative, the Alliance for Inclusive & Multicultural Marketing (AIMM), acknowledged the limited progress made in all aspects of DEI. In a letter to its board of directors and members, the organization pledged to do everything it could “to end systemic racism and achieve equality and justice” in the marketing and advertising industries. By David Morse - New American Dimensions
Ingrid Otero-Smart
Ingrid Otero-Smart has become a powerhouse in Hispanic and Multicultural marketing and advertising; one that has nurtured many current and future leaders in our industry. She started her advertising journey at McCann Erickson in her native Puerto Rico, and in 1987, she joined Mendoza Dillon & Asociados. She worked at MD&A for 18 years, leaving as President /COO in 2005 before heading to Anita Santiago Advertising, where she was President until 2008. For the last 15 years, she has served as the President/CEO of Casanova//McCann, where she brought a renewed sense of vitality and creativity to the agency; one that has established a multi-year winning growth trend. In 2020, Ingrid acquired the majority stake in Casanova from IPG, becoming a McCann affiliate and making Casanova a certified female-owned and minority-owned enterprise.
Millie Carrasquillo
Since starting her career, Millie Carrasquillo has been an enthusiastic innovator and driving force in the area of Hispanic consumer research and media measurement. At a time when the required tools and technologies did not exist, Millie was committed to creating methodologies and designing studies to more accurately reflect Hispanic consumer attitudes, behaviors and media consumption to inform our marketing strategies and media investments.
Jackie Bird
Those that know Jackie Bird know she’s an energy-filled powerhouse and an accomplished professional who has shattered multiple glass ceilings throughout her career. She paved the way for female professionals at Procter & Gamble in Puerto Rico, where she became the first female brand manager on the marketing team. Later, she made history as the first woman to be named President by a global ad agency parent company in Latin America, and also the first female member of the agency's Executive Committee for the region, while working at Grey Advertising.
Isabel Valdés
Isabel Valdés, one of the most renowned In-Culture Marketing™ experts in the nation. With two decades of experience consulting for Fortune 100 and 1000 companies, Isabel is a true business development guru. She’s also a published author public, speaker and trainer
U.S. Soccer Foundation renews partnership with Telemundo
The U.S. Soccer Foundation is extending its partnership with NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises as the official Spanish-language media partner for the second year. The announcement will be shared today at the “Unstoppable Women in Sports: Changing the Game Together” event at Telemundo Center as part of the network’s ongoing celebrations of Women’s History Month under this year’s campaign: “Change the Game” (Cambia el Juego). The renewed partnership spotlights the organizations’ long-standing commitment to encourage Latino girls and boys to live healthy and happy lives through soccer, especially in under-resourced communities.
Monica Lozano
Monica C. Lozano is a powerhouse – before serving as President and Chief Executive Officer of College Futures Foundation, she had a highly successful career in media. She was editor and publisher of La Opinión, the country's leading Spanish language daily newspaper, and then went on to become CEO of the parent company, ImpreMedia. Under her leadership, the company evolved into a multi-media content company while staying true to its mission of informing, educating, and empowering the Latino community.
Rossana Rosado
Rossana Rosado spent over 30 years in the media industry as an executive and award-winning producer. She was the first female CEO, Editor, and Publisher of El Diario La Prensa, the oldest and largest Spanish-language newspaper in the country. During her career in Journalism, she was drawn towards the stories of society's most vulnerable and was inspired to become a champion for social and economic justice. In doing so, she ensured the rapidly growing Latino community had access to the critical news and information - in Spanish - that was necessary to stay abreast of the times and advance in society.
Miller Lite is turning Bad $#!T into GoodI $#!T
There’s no beer without women. In fact, women were among the first beer brewers in history. Yet for the years that followed, many in the beer industry (Miller Lite included) alienated the very people who helped create it. How? By dividing women as consumers, objectifying them in their ads, and frankly, putting a lot of bad $#!T out there.
TIEMPO celebrates 40th Anniversary
“Tiempo,” the Emmy® Award-winning public affairs program dedicated to issues of interest to the Hispanic community in the New York metropolitan area, is celebrating its 40th on-air anniversary.
More Adults Earning College Degrees
Lumina Foundation released an updated A Stronger Nation, the foundation's online tool for tracking the share of working-age adults with degrees or other credentials of value. The national post-high school education rate among adults 25 to 64 years old reached 53.7 percent in 2021, an increase of nearly 2 percentage points since 2019 when the percentage was 51.9.
Training NextGen BIPOC Youth for STEAM Careers Can Close the Wealth Gap [PODCAST]
On this episode of The New Mainstream podcast, Dr. Hassan Brown, founder of Career Catalyst, talks about his journey into ed tech and the importance of training the next generation of BIPOC youth for STEAM careers.
Beyond on-screen: Off-camera diversity attracts new audiences
While most conversations on representation in media are centered around what audiences see on screen, of growing importance to viewers—and growing influence in attracting new audiences—is diversity and inclusion behind the cameras.
