Transitions and New Beginnings

Earlier this year, you saw the announcement made by Latinos in Social Media (LATISM) on its newly formed board and my role as the organization's interim Executive Director. Over the course of the last few months, I dedicated significant time to help form the LATISM board, draft LATISM's bylaws for incorporation, obtain its first contract and organize local efforts in several states including local chapters and conferences. My goal in doing all of this was to help in the initial phase of the new LATISM start up.

Now, nearly six months after my leaving my job with National Council of La Raza (NCLR) to join LATISM, I have been offered the position of Vice President Digital Strategy for Ogilvy Public Relations WorldWide. I am stepping down from my role with LATISM in order to take this position and look forward to continuing to contribute to LATISM as a volunteer and a member moving forward.

Upwards and onwards!

Holdin Out for a Hero Blog

This Sunday I had the great honor of being featured in Laura Tellado's Holdin Out for a Hero blog.  I am humbled and thankful to all of the amazing folks that I have met over the last decade online that have made this work possible.  Also, by way of clarification the founder of LATISM (Latinos in Social Media) was Ana Roca Castro.  She and Louis Pagan were really two of the most influential people to birth LATISM.  I came along as the third member of their team/board as they began the efforts to formalize the organization.  Together, the three of us recruited the other members of the now seven member strong LATISM board and subsequently I had the distinct privilege to step into the role of the organization's first ED.  Below is an excpert from Laura's post.

Day 295 Kety Esquivel (of LATISM)


Lately I’ve had the the frequent impulse to write about people who are moving others to do positive things on a large scale. I truly believe social media will play an even bigger role in the near future in getting people connected to one another, and it will be a new chapter in corporate and philanthropy books alike.

One woman who is doing her part in changing the way that people communicate and spread the word about important issues is Kety Esquivel...of Latinos in Social Media (LATISM).

A trailblazer Latina, Esquivel has founded, co-founded and sat on the board of numerous non-profits.

According to the official Web site, LATISM is the largest organization of social media professionals of Hispanic origin.” The brains behind the operation is Ms. Esquivel, who previously worked as the New Media Manager for the National Council of La Raza (NCLR).

Esquivel also co-founded the Institute of Progressive Christianity and the Sanctuary and, according to The Huffington Post (which she contributes to), she has “over fifteen years of experience in the non-profit, private and political sectors.”

Additionally, she founded CrossLeft.org, a Web site for progressive-minded Christians who want to speak out on some of our world’s most pressing issues.

I had only heard of the LATISM hashtag on Twitter, #latism. I learned of Kety and her fabulous work in moving Hispanics forward along with the changing technology when my friend, Christian Henríquez, interviewed her for his show, One Voice Radio. Since then, I’ve participated in a few LATISM “tweeting parties” online, and have become part of the bigger community Kety is fostering on the Web.

Read the rest of the post.