Team

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Rosario Dawson is an actress and co-founder of Voto Latino. She currently serves as Chair of Voto Latino’s Board of Directors.

Dawson made her film debut in the movie, Kids, and has since appeared in Men In Black II, The 25th Hour, Sin City, Rent, Seven Pounds, Unstoppable, Trance, Gimme Shelter, Sin City: A Dame to Kill For, Chavez, and Top Five.

Rosario Dawson is not only an award-winning actress with a 20-year career, but an all around creative, out-of-the-box innovative powerhouse whose work ranges from film production to social activism to fashion, design and technology. Along with her work at Voto Latino, Dawson serves on the board of the Lower Eastside Girls Club in Manhattan, V-Day, and Operation USA.

Most notably, Dawson was awarded the President’s Volunteer Service Award for her valuable contributions to the community and encouragement in getting others involved. Dawson’s journey has also taken her to Africa where she is a creative director and designer at Studio One Eighty Nine, an online platform she co-founded to curate and showcase beautiful work celebrating craftsmanship, heritage, and design.

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Ingrid M. Duran is CEO & Founder of D&P Creative Strategies, a company that she and her wife, Catherine, founded in 2004 to increase the role of corporate, legislative and philanthropic efforts in addressing multi cultural issues. D&P specializes in public affairs and government relations and
represents Fortune 200 companies as well as non-profits and trade associations.

Prior to starting D&P, Ingrid was President & CEO of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute (CHCI), a leadership development institute founded by Hispanic Members of Congress in 1978. CHCI’s mission is to develop the next generation of Latinx leaders and to build a diverse and inclusive workforce across industries. She grew the organization over six years from a $700K budget to a $7 million dollar budget and launched both their scholarship program and their renown annual conference. Preceding her leadership of CHCI, Ingrid was recruited to run the Washington, DC office of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) representing Latinx community interests to Congress and the Clinton Administration.

Ingrid’s public service began at an early age when she served as a Corporal in the US Marine Corps. She continued her public service on Capitol Hill for six years where she worked under the Clerk of the US House of Representatives and on the House Banking Committee under the leadership of then Chairman Henry B. Gonzalez. Ingrid also served as a Legislative Assistant for former Representative Gene Green.

Her efforts as a strong steadfast leader and advocate for the LGBTQ+ and Latinx communities have garnered her national accolades and numerous honors, including the Premio Dignidad Award from LLEGO; the Nation’s 100 most influential and powerful Hispanics for HISPANC and PODER magazines; and a Latina of Excellence by HISPANIC magazine. Along with her wife Catherine, Ingrid was recognized by the Hispanic Women’s Corporation and The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force with their 2012 Leadership Awards; Latino Magazine’s 2013 Power Players; Working Mother Magazine’s Legacy Awards; and Hispanic VIP’s Premio a la Excelencia for their work in the Hispanic community. In 2014 Latino Magazine recognized her in the Top 10 leaders in the Latinx community and People en Español named her one of 25 Most Powerful Latinas in the U.S. Ingrid was named one of The Hill’s 2018 top lobbyists in Washington, DC.

Together, Ingrid and her wife Catherine founded PODER PAC, a political action committee by Latinas for Latinas. PODER PAC is a national effort to increase the number of Latinas elected to Congress.

Through their production company, Freemind Beauty, they have also produced six films The Latino List I & II, The Out List and The Trans List for HBO and The Boomer List and The Women’s List for PBS American Masters.

Ingrid earned a bachelor’s degree from Park College and is a graduate of Harvard’s JFK School of Government Executive Program; Harvard’s Business School Corporate Governance Program; and the Center for Creative Leadership. She is a 2002 National Hispana Leadership Institute Fellow.

Brandon Hernandez is an award-winning communications leader, executive advisor, and political consultant with strong expertise in how to successfully navigate California’s political, legislative, and business landscape. Leveraging in-depth knowledge of both the public and private sectors, Mr. Hernandez advises corporations, non-profits, and political campaigns to succeed at the state and local levels. He has been named a “Top 20 Under 40” Environmental Leader by San Francisco 7×7, received multiple national awards for a groundbreaking Spanish language campaign, and was recognized with “June 24 – as Brandon Hernandez Day” by former San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom.

As the Founder and Principal of Reforma Strategies, Brandon Hernandez directs world-class client solutions in the areas of Political Strategy, Public Affairs, Media Relations, Government Relations, Hispanic Communications, Reputation Management, Marketing & Ad Campaigns, Crisis Management, Issue Advocacy, and Initiative Leadership. Regardless of the industry or challenge, he has helped organizations move past complicated events, protect reputations, and prepare for media and legislative appearances. With extensive insights, connections, and strategic leadership experience, Brandon helps companies establish or expand business operations in California, representing the fifth-largest economy in the world.

For 13 years, Brandon served PG&E to meet the needs of its customers and the State of California, most recently working as the Senior Director for External Affairs and Strategic Initiatives. In this role, he led a statewide team and oversaw legislative policy, collaborated with stakeholders and government agencies, and organized public affairs activities across the state and nation. He spearheaded PG&E’s strategic rollout of more than $6B in capital investments across Northern California, established the first Zero Net Energy substation in the United States, and led a partnership to make San Francisco the greenest city in America. Previously, Brandon directed Public Affairs for the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco in California and Washington DC, worked as a policy advisor for the California State Assembly Speaker and was lead for various corporate and political clients at a leading media and political consulting firm.

Mr. Hernandez holds a BA in Political Science from UC Berkeley. Beyond his professional endeavors, he serves as a Board Director for civic causes and non-profit organizations, including Voto Latino and the LGBTQ Victory Institute. Brandon enjoys travel immensely, has a passion for architecture and urban planning, and loves to explore cities around the world.

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María Teresa Kumar is the co-founder and President of Voto Latino Foundation, a non-profit, non-partisan 501(c)(3) organization, and its sister 501(c)(4 ) advocacy organization, Voto Latino. Voto Latino Foundation and Voto Latino are the largest Latino voter registration and Latino youth advocacy organizations in the country, respectively. Together, Voto Latino Foundation and Voto Latino, jointly known as Voto Latino, have registered over 1.4 million Americans in key battleground states since 2004, 79% of whom went on to vote. 

Latinos are the fastest-growing demographic in the United States, and Voto Latino’s work has directly led to a substantial expansion of the Latino electorate in key states like Arizona and Nevada. Voto Latino has pioneered the use of technology, social media, and influencers to effectively register voters and counter disinformation at unprecedented scale. Voto Latino reaches over 6 million Americans each month and has spent more than $100 million to ensure all Americans can participate in our democracy. 

For this work, Fast Company named María Teresa one of the 100 Most Creative Minds, and the Analyst Institute recognized Voto Latino with an Expy Award for expanding the field of voter registration. 

A sought-after political leader and strategist, María Teresa advised President Barack Obama’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing, and she currently serves on the National Task Force on Election Crises and the Brookings Institution’s Working Group on Universal Voting. She is chair of the Latino Anti-Disinformation Lab.

 María Teresa is also an Emmy-nominated analyst for MSNBC and serves on the boards of Steve Madden, Emily’s List, and the Rockefeller Brothers Fund. Additionally, she is a lifetime member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum. She has been named among Bloomberg’s 100 Influential Latinos, Washingtonian Magazine’s 100 Top Political Influencers, and Elle’s 10 influential women in Washington. The Hispanic Heritage Foundation, Hispanic Executive Magazine, Latino Leaders Magazine, and Hispanic Business have all honored María Teresa.

Eve Maldonado O’Toole is leader of Holland & Knight’s Local Government Group and Principal of Evolve Strategies LLC. She brings more than 20 years of federal lobbying experience, with substantial background in state and local government/public sector advocacy, regulatory, appropriations and policy development, and in establishing and executing local public-private partnerships, successful grassroots campaigns and coalitions, and positioning state and local officials and municipalities nationally.

With close working ties to Congress and the executive branch, Ms. O’Toole has a strong record of advancing a wide range of public interests. These include transportation and infrastructure, energy, environment, water, natural
resources, community and economic development, public safety, housing and homelessness, health and human services, workforce, education, civil rights, telecommunications and technology, homeland security, emergency
preparedness and recovery, defense and base reuse, and public finance.

Among other key local government/public agency and public-private partnerships, Ms. O’Toole currently represents cities from San Francisco to Philadelphia, Port of Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, San Mateo County’s transportation agencies and the 480-member League of California Cities, where she previously served as head of its Washington, D.C., office. She also leads and manages the advocacy for several national coalitions, including Mayors and CEOs for U.S. Housing Investment, Mayors Against LGBTQ Discrimination and the Water Agency Leaders Alliance.

Ms. O’Toole previously served as senior vice president and director of the Intergovernmental Group practice of MARC Associates, a federal relations consulting firm. She also worked as a government affairs representative with another large law firm, serving as federal representative for Los Angeles County. She currently serves on the board of the California State Society and has served on the board of The Representation Project and the Women’s Campaign Fund. She recently co-founded GrupoMas, a social network of LatinX professionals interested in California’s economic, political, arts, entertainment and cultural affairs. She also was vice president for development and treasurer for MANA, a national Latina organization.

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Wilmer Valderrama currently stars in the number one drama NCIS on CBS. He also can be seen in Netflix’s comedy THE RANCH. Valderrama also recently starred in FROM DUSK TILL DAWN, Robert Rodriguez & Quentin Tarantino’s first original television series, as ‘Carlos Madrigal,’ the series’ main villain. In addition, he will voice ‘Prince Charming’ in the John H. Williams animated film CHARMING, opposite Ashley Tisdale, Avril Lavigne and Demi Lovato.

Valderrama is most recognized for his role as ‘Fez’ on FOX’s Emmy-nominated series THAT 70’S SHOW.

As for his philanthropic efforts, Valderrama has directed several PSA’s for multiple organizations such as Voto Latino, where he also stands as co-chair. Valderrama is the spokesperson for CHCI, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute, and is the founder of their Ready 2 Lead program, which educates and empowers the Latino youth. He also has worked with President Obama’s Organizing for Action campaign on efforts involving immigration reform and education.

Valderrama currently resides in Los Angeles.

Alfredo M. Vidal is the President of the boutique lobbying firm, The Vidal Group, LLC. Under Alfredo’s leadership, The Vidal Group has represented a diverse client base, ranging from Fortune 500 companies to nonprofits.

Before starting The Vidal Group, LLC, Alfredo worked in New York as an Ombudsman for the Secretary of State, the Director of Finance for the Division of Human Rights, the Assistant Director of Intergovernmental and Legislative Affairs for Governor Cuomo and as the Senior Internal Auditor for the Department of Transportation. In the private sector he worked as an Associate for Weinraub and Ostroff, LLC, as a Senior Associate with Ostroff Associates, LLC, and as a partner at Brown, Vidal and Weinraub, LLC.

In 2010, the New York State Assembly Puerto Rican and Hispanic task force presented him with their Community Service Award, recognizing his outstanding contribution and advocacy for the social and economic advancement of the people of the Puerto Rican and Hispanic Community of New York. He was also featured in The Capitol’s Top 40 Under 40 Rising Stars.

Alfredo holds a Bachelor’s degree from Syracuse University in International Relations and Spanish Language, Literature and Culture and a Masters Degree in Public Administration from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs.