How long have you been a part of the Hispanic Heritage Foundation?

It’s like not really a thing I’m part of. They just run a bunch of leadership development and community based programs and one of those programs is their youth awards which honors hispanic high school seniors for excellence in academics and community service

What is the goal of the Hispanic Heritage Foundation?

HHFs overall goal is to increase latinos in leadership, which they do through programs for leadership development, education, and workforce development especially for youth

What award did you receive?

I received the silver award in the green sustainability category! Basically, I won a grant for college expenses and all winners are invited to join the Latinos on Fast Track (LOFT) network which connects us to resources and mentorship from a network of latino professionals. I think they’re also flying us out for a summer program at some university in either florida or texas

What did you do to receive the award?

Awards are based on academic success, community service, and excellence in one of the 9 categories – Community Service, Education, Engineering, Entrepreneurship & Business, Healthcare & Science, Media & Entertainment, Public Service & Social Justice, Green Sustainability, and Technology

How has being a part of the Foundation impacted you?

This award has definitely been an honor because we got to connect with all the other winners in our region and hearing about all of their accomplishments was amazing and I’m eager to get to connect with more latino youth and network with professionals

Are you planning on continuing your pathway in the foundation? If so, how?

I am definitely planning to engage more with their career development programs because as hispanic youth it’s so valuable to have mentorship and support from successful hispanic professionals and having that network hopefully will allow us to do the same for the next generation