Latino Leaders Network

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – The Latino Leaders Network™ (LLN) today announced the 2nd Latino Leaders Network™ Honor Roll, which recognizes Congressional leaders who employ at least one Latino staff member in their Washington, D.C. office. A total of 156 members made the Honor Roll, compared to 114 in 2008 when the Honor Roll was first released. This represents a 37% increase in members of Congress who employ Latino staffers since 2008. The U.S. Senate had 39 Senators and the U.S. House of Representatives had 117 members who made the Honor Roll (see attached copy). In addition to the members identified, seven leadership offices and 27 committees are represented on the 2010 Honor Roll.

The Honor Roll follows the November 2009 release of the online edition of the Latino Leaders Network Directory™, which includes contact information for Latino leaders from the Obama administration, Capitol Hill, and national advocacy organizations. The directory and Honor Roll are available at www.LatinoLeadersNetwork.org.

The online directory identified 307 Latinos who serve in the Congress as members and staff. Of those, 29 serve as Members of Congress in either the Senate or the House of Representatives, 18 as Latino Chiefs of Staff, and 12 as Legislative Directors. The directory also includes Committee Staff Directors, Press Secretaries, Schedulers, Legislative Assistants, Legislative Correspondents and District Directors, as well as organizational leaders for major Latino advocacy organizations. Data for the resource was compiled via the web, phone surveys and through intercept interviews on Capitol Hill. Every office on the Hill was visited to both collect and confirm data as of August 2009. Those featured are encouraged to visit online and update their listings to ensure accuracy.

Mickey Ibarra, Founder & Chairman, announced the Honor Roll during a panel discussion today on Capitol Hill entitled “State of Diversity on the Hill,” hosted by the Congressional Hispanic Staff Association, Congressional Black Associates, Congressional Asian Pacific American Staff Association and Congressional Muslim Staffers Association. He noted in his remarks: “While we can be pleased with the progress made in promoting diversity on Capitol Hill and in our government, there is no reason to be satisfied. The Latino Leaders Network is committed to continuing our work to honor and recognize members of Congress who practice diversity in hiring and recognize the importance of employing public servants who represent all segments of our society.”

In addition to the release of the Honor Roll, a new groundbreaking report, Unrepresented: A Blueprint for Solving the Capitol Hill Diversity Crisis was released. To receive a copy of the report, please contact Lindsay Vidal at Lindsay.vidal@gmail.com or on www.chsadc.org.

Latino Leaders Network™ (LLN) is a non-profit, 501(c)(3) organization whose mission is to develop ongoing opportunities to bring leaders together to establish relationships and dialogue on issues important to the Latino community. In addition to the Latino Leaders Luncheon Series™, other signature LLN events include the Latino Leaders Issue Hour and Tribute to Mayors. Mickey Ibarra, LLN founder and chairman, served as Assistant to the President and Director of Intergovernmental Affairs at the White House from 1997 to 2001. Other Latino Leaders Network Board members include: Michelle Minguez Moore, LLN Executive Director; Maria Teresa Petersen, Voto Latino; Ruben Alvarez, The Molera Alvarez Group; David Ibarra; Ibarra Foundation, and Ken Trujillo, Trujillo Rodriguez & Richards, LLC. For more information, go to www.LatinoLeadersNetwork.org.

Download the LLN 2010 Honor Roll
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(WASHINGTON, D.C. ) – Astronaut José Hernández will be the featured speaker at the upcoming Latino Leaders Luncheon Series™ event, taking place from 11:30 am-2:00 pm on Monday, March 1st, 2010 at the Capital Hilton, 16th and K Streets, NW in Washington, DC. Additional speakers for the program will include Latino Leaders Network Founder and Chairman, Mickey Ibarra; Los Angeles Councilmember Tony Cardenas and Gus West, President of The Hispanic Institute. The quarterly event provides a platform for prominent Latino leaders to share their personal story of obstacles overcome to achieve success.

“We are delighted to welcome José Hernández to the Latino Leaders Luncheon Series™ and to present him with the Nambe Eagle Leadership Award for outstanding contributions to our community,” says Mickey Ibarra, Founder and Chairman of the Latino Leaders Network™.  “As a groundbreaking scientist and engineer and a pioneer in space, he has opened doors of opportunity to many Latinos who see his achievement as living proof that what we can dream, and we can become. For all young Latinos who dream of going into space, the frontiers of possibility are limitless.”

José Moreno Hernández was born in French Camp, California and considers Stockton, California his hometown. Mr. Hernández’s family is originally from La Piedad, Michoacán, México and came to the United States as a migrant worker family, travelling back and forth between California and Mexico throughout the year. As a child, Mr. Hernández worked alongside his family harvesting crops in the California fields and was actually in the fields hoeing sugar beets the moment he decided to become an astronaut.

Despite the odds against him, on August 28, 2009, Mr. Hernández became the ninth Latino astronaut in space, and the fourth astronaut of Mexican ancestry, as part of the crew of Space Shuttle Mission STS-128, where he filled the post of Mission Specialist. He joined the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas in 2001 (where he worked as Chief of the Materials and Processes branch) and was accepted to the NASA astronaut corps in 2004. Prior to joining the Johnson Space Center, Mr. Hernández worked at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, California, where he worked on signal and image processing applications in radar imaging, computed tomography, and acoustic imaging. While at Livermore Labs, Hernández co-developed the first full-field digital mammography imaging system, which has proven useful for detecting breast cancer at an earlier stage than present film/screen mammography techniques. He has won recognition awards for his work on this project.

His other honors include: NASA Service Awards (2002, 2003), Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory “Outstanding Engineer Award” (2001), Upward Bound National TRIO Achiever Award (2001), U.S. Department of Energy “Outstanding Performance Commendation” (2000), Society of Mexican American Engineers and Scientists (MAES) “Medalla de Oro” recipient for professional and community contributions (1999), Hispanic Engineer National Achievement Award, “Outstanding Technical Contribution” (1995), Graduate Engineering Minority Fellow (GEM) (1985), and Eta Kappa Nu Electrical Engineering Honor Society member.

Anheuser-Busch Companies, Inc. is the sponsor for the Network Reception and Exxon Mobil is the sponsor of the luncheon. Media partners include the Hispanic Communications Network, Latino Leaders Magazine, Latina Style online, and El Tiempo Latino.

The first Latino Leaders Luncheon Series event was held in 2004 and more than 20 luncheons have taken place since that time, featuring Labor Secretary Hilda Solis; Governor Bill Richardson; Senators Bob Menendez, Mel Martinez and Ken Salazar; Attorney General Alberto Gonzales; Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa; Father Virgilio Elizondo; actors Wilmer Valderamma and Eva Longoria; journalist Maria Hinojoso; and NY Mets General Manager Omar Minaya, among others. Details and photos from each of these events are available on the Latino Leaders Network™ website (www.LatinoLeadersNetwork.org).

Latino Leaders Network™ (LLN) is a non-profit, 501(c)(3) organization whose mission is to develop ongoing opportunities to bring leaders together to establish relationships and dialogue on issues important to the Latino community. In addition to the Latino Leaders Luncheon Series™, other signature LLN events include the Latino Leaders Issue Hour and Tribute to Mayors. LLN also produces an on-line leadership directory and publishes the Latino Honor Roll highlighting members of Congress who employ at least one Latino in their DC Congressional office. Mickey Ibarra, LLN founder and chairman, served as Assistant to the President and Director of Intergovernmental Affairs at the White House from 1997 to 2001. Other Latino Leaders Network Board members include: Michelle Minguez Moore, LLN Executive Director; Maria Teresa Petersen, Voto Latino; Ruben Alvarez, The Molera Alvarez Group; David Ibarra; Ibarra Foundation, and Ken Trujillo, Trujillo Rodriguez & Richards, LLC. For more information, go to www.LatinoLeadersNetwork.org.

Notes: Media wishing to cover the luncheon are asked to RSVP to Jennifer Devlin at 703-876-1714 or jennifer.devlin@cox.net. Press call time is 12:00 pm for the luncheon.

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