LíderCon 2022 conference photos and recap of the two days of networking and leadership development.
This year's Latinx-led leadership conference took place in Downtown Minneapolis with two days of immersive conversation and network building. The conference was kicked off by Christopher Rivas, actor and author of the new book Brown Enough. He inspired the audience to embrace their identity and use it as an asset in their personal and professional lives. With excerpts from his book, Rivas set the tone for the two days.
Rivas was followed by four networking sessions led by local Latinx lideres in various fields. Elvis Rivera hosted "How to Money: Breaking the Generational Gap" and gave audience members resources for them to take control of their financial livelihood.
Propel Nonprofit's Mario Hernandez hosted "¿Donde Estamos? Latinx in Nonprofit Boardrooms" for guests who want to join nonprofit boards and why it is important for Latinx to get into those spaces. Currently, only 3% of nonprofit board seats are held by Latinos, and yet we make up 20% of the population in the U.S. This session is designed for those new to serving on nonprofit boards or those who are interested in joining a board.
"Best Foot Forward: Career Advancement, Authenticity & Empowerment" with Medtronic's Carolina Viramontes, Senior Consultant Alma Wendoline Vega Stickney, and DEI Advocate Alicia Guitierrez spoke about balance, the importance of focus and direction while starting off, as well as key learnings on how to position yourself to embrace new opportunities and find your own path.
Finally, on day one of the conference, the "LatinX Entrepreneurs: The Journey to Success" breakout session was led by community leaders and entrepreneurs Jose Lara, Belen Rodriguez, Abigail Dominguez, and LEDC's Enrique Blanco led the conversation exploring key learnings from their journey while building and growing their business, as well the failures that have shaped their business strategies and provided key learnings.
After lunch, the audience had a chance to watch Being Enye with Denise Soler Cox and ask the creator questions exploring the concept of belonging. You can learn more about Denise and her work by visiting her website https://projectenye.com/
Juan Angustia, Google's Senior Product Deisgner, presented his story of inspiration from a small town with limited internet access in the Dominican Republic to working for one of the biggest tech leaders. If you're interested in connecting with Juan, you can visit his website https://juanangustia.com/
Closing out the first day of LíderCon, LatinoLEAD's Director of Leadership Development Dr. Carla Manzoni gave a wonderful presentation on the work we have done over the last few years. She spoke about our Elevate Inspire Events, the inaugural ALP Cohort and their development with LatinoLEAD, and other initiatives our organization has been doing throughout 2021-22. To learn more ways to get involved with our network please visit www.latinoleadmn.org/getinvolved
The second day of LíderCon started off with Pulitzer Prize Winner and Latina power-house, Maria Hinojosa. She spoke about with fierceness about courage and why believing in yourself is vital to our personal success.
On the second day, Julieta Piox is a Maxwell Leadership Certified Coach, Trainer and Speaker hosted "Personal Growth: 3 Keys to Achieve Wholeness" as one of the four breakout sessions. Guests left this session with a feeling of clarity, confidence and purpose. Julieta aims to empower all that come to her workshops to grow in their personal and professional lives using her method which centers in authenticity, wellness and honing in on each individual’s strengths.
Technology is a relatively new field, one that continues to grow and encompass a wide variety of job titles and roles which is why we included "Latinx in Tech: Where we are & Where we're going?" as one of the breakout sessions. Led by Best Buy's Randi De La Cruz Johnson a panel of industry leaders discussed the state of Latinx in the industry.
"Latinx and the Changing Face of Rural America" with ACLU's Julio Zelaya and COPAL's Lourdes Menjívar offered guests a chance to explore the narrative of the rural and metro divide that Latinx face today in Minnesota.
In "The journey of representing Latinos in MN politics" Latinas that have been representing our community came together to talk about what it takes to be in office and why more Latinx should run. Senator Patricia Torres Ray, Majority Leader Melisa Lopez Franzen, Mayor Maria Regan Gonzalez brought wisdom and inspiration to attendees.
Following the breakout sessions on day two, audience members welcomed a star-studded panel of Latinas including Wall Street Journal Chief of Staff Rocio Serey, Chief Human Resource Officer at Xcel Energy, and LatinoLEAD’s very own Marina Parseau, Chief Diversity Officer at 3M.
The last signature speaker of LíderCon 2022 was an ever-present and inspiring Latina. 2021 Teacher of the Year, Natalia Benjamin, gave a beautiful closing message asking audience members to be an active presence in young Latinx lives by sharing our own stories with future generations at schools. She also reminded us of the power we have as community members to make change by calling our representatives and voicing our needs as parents but also as members of a larger community.
Change and progress lives inside us, we individually need to go out there and put it into action. As a community we must continue to learn, grow and lead juntos.
Thanks to all of you who participated in LíderCon 2022 and support LatinoLEAD's work year-round.
Thanks to Fogo de Chão hosting our networking reception and La Doña Cerveceria for hosting our Closing Celebration.
Thank you to La Raza and Univision Minnesota for representing our community and being LíderCon 2022 media sponsors.
LíderCon 2022 Sponsors: Best Buy, The Minnesota Twins, Tunheim, The University of St. Thomas - Schulze School of Entrepreneurship and Children’s Minnesota, Greater MSP, Bremer Bank, United Natural Foods Inc. (UNFI), 3M, The Latino Economic Development Center (LEDC), New Publica, Morgan Stanley and Minnesota Bank and Trust.
If you're interested in participating, sponsoring or joining next year's LíderCon, let us know by completing the form below.