BONUS EDITION: For Hispanic Heritage Month, Diversify Your Outreach

Building across communities is more important than ever.

Earlier this year, the Latina Voices Institute featured me on a panel about leadership. My favorite thing about the panel was how many lived experiences we represented. We were diverse by heritage. Immigration experience. Skin tone. Hair texture. Spanish fluency. And we were all Latinas.

To survive this presidential administration’s threats to our lives, we must expand our bonds. If the same faces attend your Hispanic Heritage Month events, this is a chance to build new bridges.

Two Steps to Expand Outreach

Step 1: Make a list of new communities to invite
Think about last year’s events you held for Hispanic Heritage Month. Which Spanish-speaking communities attended? What was the attendance of non-Hispanic communities? Which faith communities showed up? How many disabled people participated? Who can you add to the list?

Step 2: Send a personal invitation
Pick up the phone or send an email. Call a local mosque. Contact an Asian American advocacy group. Or reach out to the board of a local ethnic group association. It doesn’t have to be complicated, just warm and authentic.

Keep Building These Relationships
Track new folks who show up to your events this month. Then, foster those relationships. Hold regular check-ins. Support their events. Share time, resources, and programming efforts to support those communities.

We don’t have to suffer these assaults from this presidential administration alone. We can share advocacy resources. We can fight for each other. We can protect each other. And we can build power.

If you’d like support creating community engagement plans that reach beyond your usual audience, reply to this email and let’s talk.

-Dr. Danielle Lemi, PhD
Founder & Principal of Kapwa Sol Insights