Washington, D.C. – In honor of the Congressional Hispanic Leadership Institute’s (CHLI) mission to prepare and connect young leaders, CHLI held its Annual Future Leaders Conference at the U.S. Russell Senate Office Building, on Wednesday, July 17th.
The conference included welcome remarks from CHLI Chairman, The Honorable Lincoln Diaz-Balart, as well as congressional remarks by CHLI Board Members, Senator Rick Scott (FL), Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart (FL-25), Congressman Bill Flores (TX-17), Congressman William Hurd (TX-23), Congressman Albio Sires (NJ-08), as well as remarks from Vice-Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) and Chair of the House Financial Services Committee’s Subcommittee on Diversity and Inclusion, Congresswoman Joyce Beatty (OH-03).
CHLI welcomed special guest, international human rights activist, Amar Singh, President & Founder of the Amar Gallery London, for a conversation on ‘Impacting Communities through Art & Culture.’ Mr. Singh spoke about his involvement with women’s rights and his initiative to raise money to eliminate human trafficking.
Keynote Speaker, Michelle Gadsden-Williams, Managing Director of Inclusion & Diversity for Accenture in North America and author of the award-winning book, CLIMB: Taking Every Step with Conviction, Courage, and Calculated Risk to Achieve a Thriving Career and a Successful Life, shared her inspiring journey as a woman of color climbing the corporate ladder and her passion to help the next generation of diverse leaders realize their possibilities. She gave encouraging remarks to the young audience and reminded them “You are here to make a difference. It’s up to you to determine what that difference is.”
Anais Carmona with T-Mobile, Celeste Carrasco with AT&T, Anthony Perez with Google, Helena Ramirez Richardson with The Heritage Foundation, and moderator Carlos Vera with Pay Our Interns, led a conversation on ‘Personal Branding,’ where panelists shared the importance of self-investing and using social media as a platform to contribute to important values.
Panelists for the ‘Keeping a Healthy Wallet,’ included Anna Constantino with Bloomberg, Daniel Campos with Campos Financial Group, Gaby Perla with Google, Angelique Sina with Friends of Puerto Rico, and moderator and CHLI Alumna, Nina Roque with the National Women’s Business Council. They shared tips that included start a savings account to build your wealth, plan for retirement at an early age, take advantage of the benefits your employer provides, and the importance of negotiating your first salary.
CHLI would like to thank this year’s sponsors: CHLI Board Member Joe Avila with the Ford Motor Company and The Ford Fund; CHLI Advisory Council Members, Chanelle Hardy with Google; and Alberto Senior with MillerCoors. And a special thank you to everyone who attended the conference.
This year, the CHLI will be hosting its Regional Future Leaders Conference at the University of Miami in Miami, FL, on October 10th. RSVP here to join us there!
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