On May 15, 2010, author Frank Carbajal’s vision to gather prominent Latinos and Latinas to strategize for the next decade, was realized. The culmination of months of planning and pitching were at last finished and the Summit began. This event was a partnership between Frank, Hispanic-Net and Gracefully Global.
SVLLS organizers: Michael Lopez and Margarita Quihuis of Hispanic Net, Graciela Tiscareno-Sato, Prinicipal, Gracefully Global, Frank Carbajal, Founder Es Tiempo, LLC and author of "Building the Latino Future"
My role was two fold: all marketing messaging and media relations work ahead of the event to promote it and sell it out (which we did!) and panel moderator during the event.
150 people gathered at the Quadrus Conference Center in Menlo Park for the Inaugural Silicon Valley Latino Leadership Summit. I moderated the panel titled, “Latinos Leading with a 2020 Vision” which contained CEOs, a professor and two venture capitalists. We heard presentations from Professor Federico Subervi, author of The Mass Media and Latino Politics, from Dr. Robert Rodriguez, author of Latino Talent and Margarita Quihuis, Chairman of Hispanic-Net. Our keynote speaker was Rafael Anchia, Texas State Senator who some call the “Latino Obama” because he is a rising political star and a true stateman.
For those who missed this year’s summit, don’t worry–planning has already started for the 2011 Summit. To get an idea of what you missed, including the very relevant questions fielded by the panelists, please visit the SVLLS site. This will be the primary site for testimonials from those who attended, photos and videos of the day’s activities, and information for subsequent Summits in the Silicon Valley.