The National Council of La Raza's (NCLR) Líderes Initiative is a national program designed to create opportunities for Latino youth that will elevate their influence as leaders in the United States.

**2009 Líderes Summit Recap**

2010 NCLR Annual Conference and Lideres Summit will be on July 9-13 in San Antonio, Texas
The Líderes Initiative of NCLR (National Council of La Raza)—the largest national Latino civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States—hosted its 2009 Líderes Summit, in conjunction with the 2009 NCLR Annual Conference, at McCormick Place West in Chicago. With the University of Phoenix as its Champion Sponsor, the Líderes Summit convened more than 450 young leaders from throughout the country to participate in cultural presentations, a variety of workshops, including a guest appearance by actor Pepe Serna from Scarface, and a Town Hall meeting featuring prominent leaders in the social networking community.

The theme of the Líderes Summit, “Learning to Lead, Leading to Change,” incorporated activities that allowed youth to celebrate the diverse Latino and Afro-Latino cultures, and attend 20 workshops that provided information about issues important to young people, like financial advice and career planning, sexual health education, teen drug abuse and prevention, teen dating violence, and leadership and advocacy training.

This year’s annual Líderes Town Hall was titled “Plug In to the Power of New Media!” This Town Hall created awareness about innovative ways to use online communication tools like Facebook, YouTube, podcasts and blogs to promote social justice. Co-sponsored by Hyundai and Hyatt, the Town Hall included several influential bloggers and panelists who helped students revitalize their causes with the latest new media marketing techniques.

The broader NCLR Conference brought together experts, policymakers, and activists in these fields, as well as in education, immigration, and philanthropy, to address priority issues for the Latino community. Other 2009 NCLR (National Council of La Raza) Annual Conference Town Hall meetings topics included health care, housing, and the economy. The Conference also offered workshops on hate crimes, community empowerment, financial security, the 2010 Census, the Afro-Latino experience, women’s issues, youth adult partnerships, environmental issues, Latino-Jewish collaboration, and nonprofit management.

A staple event at Conference, the Latino Expo USA was a free, family-friendly expo with fun and informative activities from more than 250 exhibitors. Both Summit and NCLR Annual Conference participants enjoyed games, raffles, prizes, live music, dancing, food, and product giveaways and received information from more than 250 exhibitors.

Post Summit Updates:

Thank you to all 2009 Summit participants for making this year’s Summit an energy-filled and inspirational conference. Thank you also to our Líderes Network group leaders who worked so hard during the year to bring their youth to the Summit.
Send us your pictures and videos from Summit! Please submit testimonials and pictures to dpernick@nclr.org, or bbonilla@nclr.org.
Líderes will be posting Workshop Applications for the 2010 Summit in September 2009. Submit your ideas as soon as possible!
Stay tuned to our website for important updates about the 2010 Summit in San Antonio, Texas!
·Watch the 2009 NCLR ALMA Awards on Friday, September 18, 2009 on the ABC Television Network!