White House Hispanic Community Action Summits Take the Conversation on the Road

In July the White House Office of Public Engagement and the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics partnered to host the first ever White House Hispanic Policy Conference. Over a two day period, 160 Hispanic leaders from 25 states, D.C. and Puerto Rico joined over 100 Administration officials to discuss the President's agenda and its impact on the Hispanic community and more importantly, to strategize on how we best move forward together to improve outcomes and access for the Hispanic community.

At the end of the two day conference, several Latino leaders who participated asked us to come to their communities and hold similar gatherings in their cities and states to have the important conversation about how the Administration’s agenda impacts the Hispanic community across the country.

Over the course of the next few months, the White House Office of Public Engagement and the White House Initiative for Educational Excellence for Hispanics will partner to take this same format and conversation to several communities across the country.  We will be holding over two dozen 1 ½ – 2 day “White House Hispanic Community Action Summits” in cities ranging from Phoenix, Arizona to Miami, Florida, to Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

The goals for the local summits will be the same as the convening in Washington with robust agency participation. 

1. Relationship Building—Connecting Latino leaders to key Administration decision makers.
2. Obama Administration 101—Ensuring people gain a deeper understanding of the multifaceted ways this Administration’s agenda affects the Hispanic community.
3. Working Together—Allowing participants to connect with each other and Administration officials to address how we improve access and outcomes for the Hispanic community.

The first half of each convening will focus on Obama Administration 101 and engaging around Administration initiatives, while the second piece will model the same “open space process” that will focus on shared partnership to develop community solutions.  As we did in Washington, we will make sure we cover core issues that are critical to the Latino community like education, immigration, jobs and the economy, and health care.  And we will also ensure we cover additional issues that are important to the Latino community – issues like the work the Administration is carrying out in Puerto Rico, transportation, support for our small businesses, and civil rights, among others. 

We are excited to launch the next phase of this important project and hope we can see you soon in your communities. 

Stephanie Valencia is Deputy Director for the Office of Public Engagement