Voto Latino, a civic engagement organization that targets young Latinos, is celebrating its ten year anniversary. For the past two days in New York City, young Latinos have been attending the first of four Power Summits being held throughout the country. The goal of the Power Summit conferences is to educate and empower young people while giving them some technological skills in workshops to address issues in their communities.
Voto Latino has been able to leverage technology to reach millennial voters by using text message campaigns. Taking that concept a step further, Voto Latino is unveiling its VL Innovators Challenge, a competition for millennials to create technological solutions to address issues in the Latino community. The program will provide $500,000 in grants to 10-15 millennial-led projects. The VL Innovators Challenge is supported by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.
Maria Teresa Kumar, President and CEO of Voto Latino, said, “I can’t think of a better way to celebrate our 10 years than by taking Voto Latino on the road to train thousands of Latino Millennials and culminating in awarding grants to those who come up with solutions that address their communities’ challenges!”
You can watch footage of the Voto Latino Power Summit Google Hangout featuring Maria Teresa Kumar and actor Wilmer Valderrama below:
By Adriana Maestas
