The National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ) Adelante Academy proudly announces the inaugural cohort of the Latina Leadership Program. This milestone initiative, launching in the same year as NAHJ’s 40th anniversary, aims to develop the next generation of Latina executives in U.S. newsrooms.
The 10 women are rising stars at outlets ranging from the ABC News, CNN, NBC News, the New York Times, and the Washington Post, to Enlace Latino NC, the Dallas Morning News, LAist, the Marshall Project and Rolling Stone.
“It’s not enough to have more Latinas in news, we need more Latinas in leadership positions to change the way media covers our increasingly diverse country,” said Yaneth Guillén-Diaz, NAHJ Executive Director. “This program will unlock the leadership potential of these incredible women and equip them to succeed at the highest level.”
The Latina Leadership Program is the inaugural initiative of the NAHJ Adelante Academy, created to accelerate the career development of NAHJ members. Future programs will serve different groups and career stages.
The program is a six-month journey designed to forge the next generation of Latina news executives. It kicks off at Columbia University’s Pulitzer Hall with a deep dive into leadership hard skills, followed by an exploration of the unique challenges and opportunities for Latina leaders in the industry. Blending high-impact in-person sessions with virtual learning, the curriculum then advances into technology and AI, preparing participants for the future of newsroom leadership.
The finale takes place at the NAHJ’s 40th Anniversary Conference in Hollywood, where participants will showcase the projects they have developed during the program. Central to the program is the mentorship component; each participant will receive tailored guidance from a handpicked mentor, ensuring personalized development and support for their ambitious projects. This journey is not just about skill acquisition but a transformative experience, fostering connections, insights, and a powerful network of Latina leaders ready to redefine the journalism landscape.
“This NAHJ initiative addresses the unique challenges facing Latinas in U.S. journalism and empowers them to emerge as visible, team-oriented decision-makers and leaders,” said Natalia Algarin, Adelante Academy program manager. “We’re committed to ensuring that our inaugural cohort embarks on a journey that is as expansive in scope as it is transcendent in personal and professional growth.”
Meet the inaugural cohort
The 10 members of the Latina Leadership Program cohort represent a range of news outlets and journalistic disciplines. Elda Cantú of The New York Times and Paola Jaramillo of Enlace Latino NC are at the forefront of amplifying Spanish-speaking voices, with Elda focusing on the Times’ Spanish content and Paola innovating in community-focused journalism. CNN’s Flora Charner aims to further elevate her Emmy-Award winner team’s international coverage, while Rolling Stone’s Julyssa López is reshaping music journalism with her focus on Latino stories. Erika Angulo of NBC News is working to diversify the media’s portrayal of Latinos.
The Marshall Project’s Ana Mendez exemplifies leadership in bridging information gaps. Victoria Moll-Ramírez of ABC News Live is a pioneer in the field of streaming news, particularly for the Latino community. Lorena Flores of The Dallas Morning News is redefining audience engagement strategies; Maite Fernández Simon of The Washington Post offers strategic insights into digital journalism; and Leslie Berestein Rojas’ commitment to authentic community representation at LAist 89.3.
“We are thrilled to bring together these leaders and innovators for our inaugural Adelante Academy program,” said Yvette Cabrera, NAHJ national board chair. “They will have a chance to learn from their instructors, their mentors and from each other. Together, these women are poised to make a transformative impact on journalism.”
I am a coordinating producer for NBC News, proud of my Colombian American background. I cover conflict zones, natural disasters, plus other breaking and investigative stories. In the field, I oversee news gathering, helping correspondents, producers and crews deliver their best work.
As a field producer, I have witnessed astonishing developments. In Thailand, I covered the 2018 rescue of 12 boys and their coach trapped in a cave. In Chile, I kept vigil in the Atacama Desert in 2010 next to relatives of the trapped 33 miners until the men made it out alive. More recently I have been in and out of Ukraine covering the war.
As part of this program, I will focus on finding fixes to the way U.S. media portrays our community. English-speakers rarely see quotes or soundbites from Latinos unless the stories deal with Hispanic Heritage Month, immigration, or poverty. Few seem aware that 67 percent of Latinos in this country are U.S.-born. Because of this disparity our young people watching TV in English do not see enough positive role models.
I see a direct link between leadership and legacy. We have a responsibility to share what we have learned and help pave the way for other Latinos to get ahead.
Leslie Berestein Rojas
Immigrant Communities Correspondent at LAist
LinkedIn | X
I’m an immigrant communities correspondent for LAist 89.3, an NPR affiliate in Los Angeles. I’ve spent the past 13 years in radio as a reporter and editor. I previously worked in print for the San Diego Union-Tribune, Time,People, the Orange County Register and the L.A. Times. I’ve done local, national, and international reporting. My newsroom serves L.A. County, a region shaped by its immigrant history. My broader vision as a leader is to reflect Los Angeles in my newsroom fully, not in terms of numerical diversity. To do this, we need staff at every level who reflect L.A. in terms of lived and socioeconomic experience. My goal is to nurture and retain future leaders from non-traditional backgrounds who can reframe how we view representation.
My project starts on the ground floor: an in-house mentoring program for new reporters and those transitioning to a new medium. New hires would be formally paired with a seasoned reporter who is not their manager, but their mentor. They’ll receive hand-on training that onboarding doesn’t cover. This can improve the quality of our product, improve workflow, and give new hires a tailored way to learn. Most importantly, it would help retain talent.
I’m a news editor for The New York Times at the Mexico City Bureau, where I write El Times, a newsletter in Spanish. I’ve been with The New York Times since 2018, when I joined The Times en Español as a deputy editor. From 2014 to 2016, I served as editor-in-chief of a weekly magazine at El Comercio in Lima, Peru. Prior to that, I was the managing editor of Etiqueta Negra, a monthly magazine of narrative journalism, and founding editor of a quarterly focused on environmental stories. I grew up in Reynosa, Mexico, across the border from the Rio Grande Valley in Texas and have a BA in International Relations from Tec de Monterrey, and an MA in Latin American and Caribbean Studies from N.Y.U.
I believe newsroom leadership consists of creating a space where people are empowered to thrive using the full extent of their capabilities as part of a community.
I’d like to explore how to create and pitch a workflow for my team that allows for sustained growth leveraging the latest advances in technology without compromising journalistic standards. I am also eager to work towards building a sustainable, scalable strategy partnering with other areas of the paper in order to serve, engage and grow Spanish-speaking audiences for The Times.
I am a Director of Coverage for CNN International Newsgathering, based in Atlanta, Georgia.
I work with CNN International teams around the world and manage the network’s newsgathering teams, including dozens of correspondents reporting on key global issues.
I played a pivotal role in CNN’s coverage of Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine and was part of the team honored with an Emmy Award for Live Breaking News Coverage, a Dupont Award and an Overseas Press Club Award.
I was based in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil for nearly a decade before moving to Atlanta and covered the 2016 Summer Olympics, the Zika outbreak and the impeachment process of President Dilma Rousseff, among other stories. I also worked as a producer and writer with the Associated Press, Al Jazeera and America’s Quarterly in Brazil, New York and Washington DC before joining CNN.
I’m originally from Caracas, Venezuela and grew up with an innate passion for Latin America and its stories. Through my proposed project, I’m looking to further expand coverage of this region where key issues like mass migration, climate change, socio-political, cultural and financial shake ups are having a global impact.
I graduated cum laude from Emerson College with a BS in Broadcast Journalism and have an MA in Politics from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism.
I am fluent in English, Spanish and Portuguese.
I am an Audience Strategy Editor at The Washington Post, where I’m responsible for setting the digital and audience strategy for the Business and Technology sections. In my nearly six years at the Post, I’ve held various roles including Senior Operations Editor with the Foreign and National Security desks, and Breaking News Reporter.
Prior to joining The Post, I honed my skills in audience engagement, social media, and data analysis at CQ Roll Call. I also contributed my expertise as the Communications Director for the International Center for Journalists in the nonprofit sector. My career began in Uruguay, where I covered the capital city’s mayor for El Observador newspaper as a reporter.
I hold a master’s degree in Digital Journalism from the University of Maryland and was a part of ONA’s 2020 Women’s Leadership Accelerator. I am bilingual in English and Spanish, and also proficient in Portuguese.
In my project for the Adelante Academy, I am eager to systematically explore how news organizations can better serve and attract more diverse audiences, specifically Latinos. This work is not just a professional endeavor for me; it’s a pursuit to broaden the narrative and inclusivity in journalism.
I am a News Media professional with a rich background in both online and print products. Throughout my journalism career, I’ve been recognized for my impactful writing. Since 2014, I’ve dedicated my professional efforts to digital products, currently serving as a Senior Community Audience Strategist on The Dallas Morning News Audience Team. In this role, I lead initiatives to engage and grow key readership audiences, with a particular focus on second and third-generation Hispanics in the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area.
Previously, I was a part of the Digital Cabinet and Training Committee at The Dallas Morning News and served as a board member for the Dallas Morning News Charities. In 2022, I was honored as the Dallas Morning News Digital Innovator of the Year. I am also an active member of the DFW Chapter of NAHJ, where I served as Vice President.
Before joining the DMN in 2014, my journey included a stint as a Senior Content Manager at Univision. Looking ahead, I am passionate about leading my newsroom through the dynamic digital market, particularly in reaching Hispanic audiences in the United States.
My current project for the NAHJ Adelante Academy involves an innovative redesign of the e-paper version of Al Día, coupled with a new distribution strategy aimed at effectively reaching Spanish-speaking audiences in North Texas.
I am a Colombian journalist and entrepreneur based in Raleigh, North Carolina. I’m the co-founder of Enlace Latino NC, a nonprofit Spanish-language newsroom in North Carolina that works hand-in-hand with the state’s Hispanic communities to cover the issues and policies that affect our lives.
Throughout my career, I have been honored to receive more than 24 journalism awards from the National Association of Hispanic Publications. In 2023, I was recognized as one of the most influential women in media and communications in North Carolina.
I want to learn tools that will allow me to continue highlighting and building bridges between the Latino communities in North Carolina through information, emphasizing the importance of journalism in Spanish, making our stories and challenges visible, and reinforcing the crucial role of journalism in strengthening and empowering our community. Through this program, I hope to take Enlace Latino NC to the next level of journalistic excellence.
I’m currently a senior music editor at Rolling Stone, where I write and commission stories that reflect the intersection between music, politics, culture, and identity. I’ve written for publications such as GQ, the Guardian, CNN, the Nation, and the Washington Post, and some of my major assignments include the 2020 cover of Vogue featuring Rosalia and the 2021 BBC feature, “New York’s Last Great Jazz Parlour,” which received a Lowell Thomas Award. My story “The Champion Mariachi of Uvalde High” recently won a National Entertainment Journalism Award from the LA Press Club.
At Rolling Stone, I oversee our publication’s Latin and global pop coverage across print and digital properties, and I’m constantly looking for incisive, thoughtful pieces that jump off the page and represent diverse communities in powerful ways. My vision as a leader is to be a strong, empathetic, and dynamic decision-maker who expands the boundaries of what arts and music reporting looks like while proving the importance of culturally nuanced journalism.
As part of the inaugural Adelante Academy cohort, I’ll be focusing on building an editorial and audience engagement strategy that strengthens our Latin music stories by leveraging enterprise reporting, utilizing multimedia and social media tools, and making use of translations and bilingual content.
I am a Panamanian-American journalist and Product Manager at The Marshall Project. I started my career as an investigative reporter and pivoted to product once I realized there was a need to bridge the gap between the information I was reporting and the ways in which people could access that information.
Over the course of NAHJ’s Adelante Academy Leadership Program, I hope to deepen my efforts of listening to communities’ needs to inform editorial decisions and product development. To me, having community-centered and community-informed research practices is an intrinsic part of leadership.
My vision of leadership isn’t solely about personal growth, but in knowing that my role in a newsroom can open the door for other Latinx folks, too — and that it can lead to better, more culturally adept, and more impactful journalism.
I am a bilingual multimedia journalist with experience in local, regional, cable, and network news. Currently, I am the Senior Producer for Race and Culture for ABC News Live and GMA3, plus Senior Producer of Special Projects for ABC News Live. As a leader in the streaming space, I honestly believe there is no better platform to be doing journalism. As a Latina leader, I am obsessively aware of the changing demographics of our country and the pivotal point our community is at.
I find myself at the intersection of both of these realities and understand how essential streaming news and storytelling is for the Latino community who, according to Nielsen, is a “dedicated streaming-first audience.” Nielsen also states the “average age for Latinos in the U.S. is 33.7, well below 45.1 for non-Hispanic Whites,” making them essential within the key demo. This is what my project will focus on- developing a data driven strategy to capitalize on Latino streamers and present actionable items to the leadership at ABC News to increase our investment in the community.
The Selection Process
From a pool of 70 applications, members of the program’s Advisory Board selected 10 outstanding Latina journalists for this transformative journey. Eighteen shortlisted applicants were video-interviewed by the judges who then selected the 2024 cohort based on the eligibility criteria defined in the call for applications. Our judges, recognized leaders in their fields, include:
- Yvette Cabrera, Senior Reporter, Center for Public Integrity; President, NAHJ Board of Directors
- Nora López, Executive Editor, San Antonio Express-News and the program’s Chair.
- Charo Henríquez, Editor, Newsroom Development & Support, The New York Times
- Emma Carrasco, Senior VP of Corporate Affairs, NBCUniversal News Group
- Rebecca Nieto, National Edward R. Murrow and Emmy Award-winning journalist
- Clara Dominguez, Director of Partnerships and Strategic Initiatives, VOA
- Blanca Ríos, Producer/Newswriter, ABC 7 Chicago Digital; NAHJ Secretary
Acknowledgments
We extend our heartfelt thanks to the Ford Foundation for their support, the program’s advisory board, judges, and the program’s faculty from NAHJ members, colleagues, and Columbia University. Your collective efforts have made this program a reality.