Latino Leader Briefing at The White House

During the pandemic I, like all of us, sat at home and behind a phone screen—largely with feelings of hopelessness and uncertainty. That was, until I decided to do something with my energy and seek community. I was over the narrative I was seeing and wanted to curate positive feel good vibes for myself. Google search after search led me to the same road when I typed in “inspirational quotes”, past presidents, scholars, and celebs popped up and while their words worked for a while I started feeling like there was an unintended trend: mainly white men.

While I am all for reading advice from people who have “made it”, I am painfully aware that our paths to success and potential opportunities are largely created by us. So you can imagine my intrigue when I saw the White House hosting their annual Hispanic Heritage month party last year. I saw so many leaders and familiar faces and knew that was a room I not only wanted to be in, but belonged in. So I made it my mission to do just that: work hard enough to earn a ticket to the party. By the title and social photos, you’d probably guess by now that, yes I did just that!

“Invitation from The President and Dr. Biden for a reception in celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month”, that was the title of the email. Did I run jump and kick the air with excitement? Yes, yes I did. If that wasn’t enough, I received another email inviting me to an exclusive White House briefing before the party with a small group of Latina Leaders. As someone who receives press passes for many of these large events, I am used to being invited to capture the moment. However, in this moment I wasn’t sure if they were saying I was one of these said leaders. It wasn’t until the day of as, we were walking to the steps for a group photo, that I confirmed I was being called a leader in the room.

I am front row in purple, with Administrator and presidential appointee for the SBA Isabel Guzman (center) with Latina Leaders at the White House

I wasted no time getting myself to the front of this row, you don’t have to call me a leader twice to step up. And that is what I want all you to take from my experience! Only you can know where you are called to leadership and how you show up, but I do know that when you follow your own internal compass pretty awesome things can take place.

The day was full of networking, learning about the efforts of other amazing leaders, and all around gratitude for the recognition and inspiration. We even heard from a handful of Latinas who work directly for President Biden or VP Kamala, from digital to social to partnerships, it was amazing to see their faces and hear their stories. For more on the fun, be sure to visit TikTok and Instagram for the action shots. And I’ll see you here again for our next big adventure together!