In The Community
Genny Castillo
Image Credits: Genny Castillo
Genny Castillo is the Deputy Director of the Southern Economic Advancement Project (SEAP) and is known for her leadership in policy and community engagement. Since January 2024, Genny has led SEAP in its mission to support innovative policy research and bridge gaps across the South. Her role involves connecting communities with crucial resources and driving impactful local programming.
SEAP is dedicated to addressing pressing regional issues, with a focus on addressing the impacts of climate change and extreme weather on Southern communities, ensuring all Southerners have access to basic needs like food, housing, and transportation. SEAP also advocates for policies that promote healthy living and access to quality care.
Genny’s career is defined by her dedication to public service and leadership. Before her current role, she served as the Regional Engagement Director for SEAP from 2019 to 2024 and was the COO of the BLUE Institute, which trains young people of color for leadership in electoral campaigns. Genny’s experience includes her impactful role as the Latinx Constituency Director for the Democratic Party of Georgia during the 2018 campaign cycle, and as Director of Caucus Services, she developed a highly successful state legislative caucus internship program.
This dynamic Latina has made empowering and elevating her community the center of her professional life, leaving a lasting impact for generations to come.
Maria Urbina
Image Credits: Mari Urbina
Maria Urbina, Managing Director of Indivisible and of Nicaraguan descent, has made major strides in progressive politics. Her role at Indivisible, a movement born out of resistance to the Trump agenda, highlights her lifetime commitment to grassroots activism and political reform.
Indivisible is a grassroots movement made up of everyday people determined to reshape American democracy to be more inclusive. It started as the “Indivisible Guide,” a Google doc that explained how to resist Trump’s agenda in 2016. Since then, it has grown into a nationwide movement where members come together in their local communities to call representatives, go to rallies, etc. While small, their actions build up a lot of political power at the local level to move the needle. The overall goal is to build a democracy that reflects the interests of everyone, not just the interests of a powerful few.
Maria's career is marked by her strategic and impactful roles in politics. Before joining Indivisible, she was Vice President of Politics and Campaigns at Voto Latino, overseeing national campaigns and voter engagement. Her experience also includes seven years as a senior advisor to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D- NV) and various political engagement roles in Senate races and President Obama’s re-election campaign.
Her expertise in strategy, messaging, and policy, especially for Latinx, AAPI, and immigrant communities, earns her regular appearances on news channels like MSNBC and Univision, making her one of the few Latina faces we see on broadcast news But through sustained representation for Latinx voices, Maria’s example provides hope that more will follow in her footsteps.
Sarah Audelo
Image Credits: Sarah Audelo
Sarah Audelo’s career reflects her unwavering dedication to youth empowerment and social justice. As the former Executive Director of the Alliance for Youth Action, Sarah led the nation’s largest youth grassroots organizing network, focusing on building political power among young people across the United States.
The Alliance for Youth Action is renowned for its work in empowering young people, particularly those from marginalized communities, to take on leadership roles, promoting involvement in political processes and advocacy, and addressing economic justice, reproductive rights, LGBTQ rights, and more.
Sarah’s career includes serving as Hillary Clinton’s Millennial Vote Director in the 2016 election and working with organizations like Advocates for Youth and Generation Progress. After graduating from Georgetown University, she began her career as a special education teacher with Teach for America in the Rio Grande Valley.
Currently, Sarah is the Deputy Advocacy Director at the Open Society Foundations, where she supports global efforts for justice, democratic governance, and human rights. This makes Sarah one of the few Latinas in a decision-making position in the philanthropy world. To put that into perspective, according to the 2022 Diversity Among Philanthropic Professionals Report, only an estimated 6.6% of Latinos hold board positions in philanthropy, compared to 52.8% of white people in those positions.
Her work at Open Society Foundations continues to advance bold, democratic solutions to critical challenges, especially in marginalized communities that are historically underinvested in by philanthropy. To that point, a 2022 survey titled “Financial Challenges of Nonprofits Serving People of Color,” found that nonprofits serving or led by people of color face greater financial struggles due to lower funding from donations and grants.
“Our study pushes the field to acknowledge that the nonprofit sector is not race-neutral and understanding the racial/ethnic barriers at the institutional level is key to addressing the issues of under-resourced POC nonprofits. The structural barriers make it necessary for interventions at the institutional level because it is harder for individual nonprofits or leaders to overcome resource challenges,” stated authors Mirae Kim and Bo Li.
Yadira Sanchez
Image Credits: Yadira Sanchez
Yadira Sanchez is a prominent Mexican advocate for Latinx civic empowerment, serving as the Executive Director and co-founder of Poder Latinx. This organization is dedicated to building Latinx political power through innovative strategies and community engagement. They do this by getting people involved in voting, educating them about important issues, and developing young leaders who can drive real change in their communities. They started as a small team in Florida, but they now have a presence in states like Arizona, California, Georgia, Texas, and Washington.
The Poder Latinx mission is to build a country where the Latino community is represented and their voices are heard, so they help Latinos become informed advocates for justice and democracy. This way, no matter what challenges they face, the community can stand strong and protected.
Yadira’s previous role as Development Director for Mi Familia Vota involved raising over 20 million dollars for the organization and expanding their partnerships to boost civic participation. Her leadership includes experience serving on the boards of nonprofits like Dialogue on Diversity, dedicated to social and political advancement; Family Values @ Work Action, dedicated to building political power among marginalized voters; and Western Resource Advocates, dedicated to fighting the climate crisis.
Yadira’s work hasn’t gone unnoticed. She was recognized as a 2021 American Express Ngen Fellow and a 40 under 40 honoree by the American Association of Political Consultants. Yadira’s only getting started. She has many more years ahead of her for her leadership to continue to shape the future of Latinx civic engagement and political power.
Tory Gavito
Image Credits: Tory Gavito
Victoria "Tory" Gavito is a trailblazer in political strategy and advocacy, known for her role as President of Way to Win. This national hub for donors uses a data-informed approach to political funding, aiming to advance transformative policies to build lasting structural power for marginalized communities.
Way to Win’s work is focused on strengthening political infrastructure by investing in grassroots organizations at the state level, promoting policies that drive social and economic equity, and shaping public discourse to support progressive causes. Their mission is to disrupt conventional politics by connecting funders and organizers, addressing systemic issues, and leveraging a broad network for meaningful change in ways that are creative, efficient, and ultimately, transformative.
As if building an entirely new funding organization wasn’t enough, Tory’s career also includes founding the Texas Future Project and the Texas Future Project Research Center, where she led the development of strategies to put Texas on a pathway to becoming a battleground state and thus, competitive for Democrats to be able to win local, state, and federal elections there. Her background as an attorney advocating for workers’ rights and her inspiration from her grandmother, an immigrant from Mexico, underscores her dedication to movement-building and explains what fuels her fire - reasons that many Latinas can relate to.
Did you miss an installment of the Latinas Who Lead series? Make sure to catch up and find even more inspiring Latinas:
5 Latina Activists Disrupting the Political Status Quo
- 5 Latine LGBTQ+ Game Changers ›
- 5 Latina Activists Disrupting the Political Status Quo ›
- Nathalie Molina Niño on Why Latinas Belong in Boardrooms—and How to Get There - Luz Media ›
Juleyka Lantigua
Photo by Juleyka Lantigua
Juleyka Lantigua is a journalist and entrepreneur, Founder and CEO of award-winning digital media studio, LWC Studios, which focuses on making podcasts for clients who highlight stories that matter. LWC Studios also produces original podcasts, many of which are focused on Latino experiences and stories. Lantigua is the producer of the “Latina to Latina” podcast hosted by Alicia Menendez, a TV commentator, host, and author who also works on MSNBC’s “The Weekend,” a show that provides analysis of the big events of the week. “Latina to Latina” showcases remarkable Latinas in business, politics, arts, and more, giving a platform to Latinas making an impact across industries.
Her body of work is as diverse as it is award-winning. She also produces the “70 Million: One Jail at a Time” podcast, which focuses on the effects local jails have on people and communities, and sheds light on how communities across the country are addressing jail reform. The podcast was nominated in 2020 for a Peabody Award and won Best Narrative/Documentary Podcast at the New York Festivals Radio Award in 2020.
LWC Studios also recently launched “100 Latina Birthdays,” a documentary podcast that focuses on Latina health. It’s a narrative investigative series that reports on the key health issues Latinas face in the U.S. at every stage of their lives. The first season focuses on issues starting in utero to age 20. The following seasons will continue exploring different age groups through age 100.
Lantigua was born in the Dominican Republic, and her family moved to the U.S. when she was 10 years old. She grew up in the Bronx, went to Skidmore College, and was awarded a Fulbright scholarship, which provides grants for U.S. citizens to go abroad and citizens from other countries to come to the U.S. to study, teach, research, and share their talents and skills. Lantigua holds a Master's in Print Journalism and an MFA in Creative Nonfiction, which she has used to create platforms that the Latino community can benefit from for over 20 years, and in many ways, this is only the beginning for Lantigua.
Dr. Carmen Rojas
Photo by Dr. Carmen Rojas
Of Venezuelan and Nicaraguan descent, Dr. Carmen Rojas is the President and CEO of the Marguerite Casey Foundation, which works for a healthy democracy and a just economy. She has had this role since 2020 when she became the youngest Latina to lead a nationally endowed philanthropic foundation. The foundation’s mission is to help create a country where underrepresented communities are no longer ignored by the government. To achieve this goal, they fund organizations, initiatives, scholars, and leaders who work on shifting the power balance to communities that are constantly excluded from having any say in society.
Under Dr. Rojas’ leadership, the foundation launched the prestigious Freedom Scholars award, a program designed to support scholars with a one-time $250,000 award to further research in areas like feminist prison abolition, Indigenous erasure, global urbanism, alternatives to movement capture, and militarized policing. Since 2020, the program has granted over $130 million in funding to a variety of organizations and individuals including Angélica Cházaro, J.D, co-founder of La Resistencia, a grassroots organization focused on ending immigrant detention, deportations, and the Northwest Detention Center; Lorgia Garcia Peña, PhD, a scholar on Latinx studies, global Blackness, and Dominican diaspora studies; Sarah Haley, PhD, whose work focuses on gender and women’s history, prison abolition, Black feminist history and theory, and more; among others.
Dr. Rojas has dedicated her entire career to working with foundations, nonprofits, and financial institutions to make a difference in the lives of working people all over the U.S. She’s also a member of the boards of Nonprofit Quarterly, Blue Ridge Labs, San Francisco Federal Reserve's Community Advisory Council, and the Confluence Racial Equity Initiative Advisory Committee. It’s not easy being one of the few, but Rojas is an advocate who dreams boldly, is a passionate philanthropist, and is an inspiring figure in the world of philanthropy where systemic change is hard to come by.
Rachel Carmona
Photography by Kisha Bari
Rachel O’Leary Carmona is the current Executive Director at both Women’s March and Women’s March Network. Women’s March is one of the largest political platforms for women and the most impactful grassroots organization on the progressive spectrum. Carmona is a first-generation Mexican American, and she’s dedicated her career to inspiring, mobilizing, and empowering people to have a say in the actions and policies that affect their communities.
Carmona began as the Chief Operating Officer of Women’s March in 2018 and transitioned into her current role in 2019. She helped transform the organization by overseeing the creation of its infrastructure and the incorporation of the Women’s March Network. Carmona also established Women’s March Win, a Super PAC dedicated to empowering and mobilizing women politically.
Under Carmona’s leadership, the Women’s March has grown exponentially, mobilizing thousands of marchers every year, with 2018 boasting an estimated 300,000 marchers across the U.S. The Women’s March voter mobilization efforts played an important role in a national coalition that led to Trump’s loss in the 2020 elections.
Moreover, Carmona spearheaded a change in approach: the Women’s March isn’t just about an annual march in Washington D.C. They expanded their on-the-ground organizing efforts to take action throughout the year, with efforts focused on stopping abortion bans, standing against gun violence, rejecting white nationalism, demanding dignity for survivors, and more. Women’s March has mobilized tens of millions of individuals to work for a more feminist future, and they’re now consistently on the front lines of transformative social change.
Liz Alarcon
Photo by Liz Alarcon
Liz Alarcon is a Venezuelan American communicator, facilitator, social entrepreneur, political analyst, and speaker. She has held a variety of roles in her career, including Director of Strategic Partnerships for The Children's Movement of Florida, Producer and Reporter at Univision, Miami Director of the Leadership Program for the Millennium Campus Network, Debate Teacher at Archimedean Upper Conservatory, and Analyst at Bendixen & Amandi International. There doesn’t seem to be much this powerhouse can’t do.
Alarcon is a proud alumna of the University of Miami and Georgetown University School of Foreign Service and is another Fulbright Scholarship recipient. She is also the Founder and Executive Director of Pulso, a non-profit media outlet dedicated to sharing news and stories for and about Latinos. Pulso reaches a subscriber base of over 2 million Latinos across their media platforms, across the U.S., and is committed to building community for a population that rarely sees their history told accurately or their experiences reflected authentically.
Alarcon has written and provided commentary for publications like The New York Times, MSNBC, & The Atlantic, among others. One of the main focuses of her work is increasing people’s understanding of Latin America and empowering Latinos in the U.S., making them feel seen while also engaging them so they can increase their political power through civic participation and advocacy.
Irene Godinez
Photo by Vote Run Lead
Irene Godinez is a force in the world of activism, particularly within the non-profit sector. With almost 15 years of dedicated service to her community, she’s left a mark on various organizations at local, state, and national levels. Of Mexican descent, Godinez is committed to causes close to her heart, including immigration, women's health and reproductive rights, civic engagement, and community outreach.
As the founder and executive director of Poder NC Action, Godinez is leading the fight for reproductive and economic justice in North Carolina. With a decade of experience in the abortion rights space, she anticipated the challenges that have now arisen in the space of abortion rights, and she sees them as a rallying cry for action. She’s determined to elect leaders who uphold and champion the rights of women to be whole and independent humans with full bodily autonomy.
Poder NC Action is a nonprofit organization dedicated to building people's power, investing in leadership development, and educating the public about critical issues and elections. At its core, Poder NC Action strives to cultivate a sense of belonging and efficacy among Latino individuals, challenging historical distrust of government and fostering a community rooted in shared values. Godinez envisions a world where political leadership reflects the diversity of its constituents, so she advocates for justice and equality, especially when it comes to reproductive rights for the Latino, Black, and LGBTQIA+ communities.
- 5 Latina Activists Disrupting the Political Status Quo ›
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Photography by brownskinhazel on Instagram
The University of Southern California (USC) protest is one of many now featured in heavy news coverage due to the clashes between students and law enforcement. USC protests first began after the university decided to cancel valedictorian Asna Tabassum’s commencement speech, a student who has been openly pro-Palestine on social media. USC cited safety concerns for the cancellation of the speech; however, the Los Angeles Police Department confirmed to local NPR affiliate “LAist” last week that no crime report had been opened for the threats. USC then went on to cancel the entire main graduation ceremony.
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USC also announced a drastic change to the campus-wide commencement ceremony, and it seems that other universities in the U.S. will follow suit, including Princeton University, Emory University, Cornell University, Northwestern University, City College of New York, and George Washington University because students have joined the efforts in calling for a ceasefire and an end to the genocide on Palestinians.
Since Wednesday night, dozens of protesters have been arrested across U.S. universities. At USC, over 90 people were arrested by the LAPD during peaceful protests because they refused to disperse and disband their encampment (up since last week) in Alumni Park, which is where the university’s commencement events take place. Encampment has been an element of many student-led protests sprouting on college campuses all over the country as a quiet means of disruption. USC protesters stood their ground, but arrests eventually started, with LAPD officers zip-tying people and leading them to LAPD vans.
As reported by NPR, arrests have also been made at Princeton University and Emory University, and there has been heavy police presence at Emerson College and the University of Texas, among others. Tensions are rising on college campuses across the nation as students refuse to stay quiet about their activism and their solidarity with the Palestinian people.
A Latino Father Goes Viral
Amidst the chaos of USC protests and the violent reaction of local and campus police forces, a supportive Latino dad emerged as a gold standard for parents everywhere by showing up to support his daughter, one of the protest organizers on campus. While many parents would counsel their children to “mind your own business” or “don’t get involved in things that don’t concern you,” this Latino dad headed to campus and stood by his daughter.
This “don’t ruffle any feathers” approach is particularly pervasive in Latino culture, where it’s common to be taught to keep your head down and not make any waves - “no te metas donde no te llaman” or “no es tu problema” are phrases Latino children hear often.
@holdonnow_ #utaustin
A reporter from ABC7 Los Angeles identified the supportive father as Lazaro Aguero. He confidently stated, “I’m here to support my daughter. She’s studying here, and they’re protesting against a genocide.” He shared that the entire family is against the ongoing genocide and has been aware of his daughter’s efforts on campus.
Aguero also said, “They’re threatening, if we don’t leave the campus we’re going to get arrested. But the students are so brave, look at them, they don’t want to leave the campus.” When asked if he was concerned about his daughter he said, “It does concern me, but my daughter did a right decision. If she rather be arrested fighting for Palestine, I will be the happiest daddy. I will be the happiest daddy if she’s doing the right thing.”
This moving show of support made many Latina daughters proud across social media, and the ABC7 clip quickly went viral. To see a father breaking through machismo beliefs that often lead to controlling behavior and the repression of female power within families was nothing short of awe-inspiring. Thousands of comments can now be found showing the emotional response to seeing a Latino father stand so resolutely by his daughter as she does what so many Latino parents, especially fathers, teach their daughters not to do.
Comment shared by @thedaisyprado on Instagram
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Many commentators agreed that this viral video served as a reminder not only to other Latino parents but parents across the ethnic spectrum to support their children when they’re putting themselves on the line for acting on their beliefs and seeking change in systems that have been shown to be unjust, unfair, and inequitable.
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The younger generation, as evidenced by students across the U.S. who are raising their voices for Palestine, is following their anti-war beliefs and bringing their parents along with them. Where global governments have stayed silent and stayed put, young people are amplifying Palestinian voices and helping mobilize the masses, not just in their communities but also on social media, across all platforms.
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