Jan. 22, 2025 – The National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ) announced that its 2025 annual conference July 9-13 in Chicago will have tracks in AI/Emerging Tech; Broadcast; Core Skills; Entrepreneurship + Freelance; Health + Safety; Leadership + Management, and Spanish-language journalism.
NAHJ announced the leaders of all six tracks as well as the members of the planning committee aiming to make the 2025 NAHJ Conference and Expo one of the most relevant and successful in NAHJ’s 41-year history. Last year, 1,840 journalists, media executives and exhibitors attended NAHJ’s 40th anniversary conference in Los Angeles.
“Chicago has one of the largest Latino populations in the United States, making it an epicenter of top issues NAHJ cares about – representation in media, accurate portrayals of Hispanic communities and access to news in Spanish,” said NAHJ President Dunia Elvir. “With members coming in from across the country, we’re creating a national conference that resonates locally.”
The conference tracks and leaders are:
- AI/Emerging Tech – Hands-on with the latest technologies to advance your career. Frank Mina, the Seattle Times and Dan Pacheco, Syracuse University Newhouse School
- Broadcast (TV/Radio) – Over the air, on demand or streaming – be ready. Cristela Guerra, WBUR and Steve Soliz, KING 5 News
- Core Skills – All the essential skills to succeed in modern journalism. Manuelita Beck, ABC15 Arizona and Natalia Gutiérrez, The Associated Press
- Entrepreneurship + Freelance – Be independent by being your own boss. Alicia Ramirez, Inland Empire Publications/The Riverside Record
- Health + Safety – Be prepared physically, mentally and digitally. Tat Bellamy-Walker, PEN America and Juanita Islas, International Women’s Media Foundation
- Leadership + Management – To lift more Latinos into leadership roles. Fernanda Camarena, Poynter Institute and Amanda Zamora, Agencia Media
- Spanish/Español – Spanish-language media is taking on new importance. Michelle Faust Raghavan (Claridad Media)
Two conference tracks will be led by the program team as a whole, focused on covering:
- Climate Crisis – the largest story of our generation.
- Immigration – potentially the largest story of the year.
In addition, NAHJ’s task forces will organize multiple sessions in their areas of concentration: Afro-Latino, Business, Education (Academic/Student), Investigative, LGBTQ+, Meteorology + Climate, Sports, Visual (Photography/Video). There will be around 100 sessions in all, including at least 18 in Spanish.
“The conference will be packed with hands on-training in topics that are highly relevant to political, technology and business challenges facing journalists today,” said Robert Hernandez, NAHJ program manager. “At the same time, attendees will have the opportunity to strengthen core skills with expert session leaders.”
The conference Planning Committee members are
- Gilbert Bailon, WBEZ
- Hugo Balta, Latino News Network
- Jose Baltierra III, ABC 7 Chicago
- Manuel Glavan, Vantage Point Marketing
- Juan González, Democracy Now
- Diana Gutiérrez, WISN-TV, NABJ Board Region 6 Director
- Calry Luque, Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County
- Natalie Martinez, WMAQ NBC5
- Diana Palomar, ABC7 Chicago
- Blanca Rios, ABC7 Chicago
The 2025 NAHJ Conference and Expo will be held at the Chicago Hilton. Register by March 31 to get an early-bird rate.
For questions regarding sponsor opportunities and/or to purchase a booth, please contact: Diana Maltez, Director of Development, dmaltez@nahj.org or (866) 356-7239, Ext. 4