Maria Teresa Kumar
Maria Teresa Kumar, founding executive director of Voto Latino, is a dynamic leader and advocate who has dedicated her career to empowering Latino youth and engaging them in the political process. Her strong record of accomplishment has earned her high profile recognitions, including being named as one of the 20 most notable Latinos under 40 by PODER Magazine, and numerous leadership awards including an Emmy nomination, the White House Project, Imagen Foundation and the New York legislature. In addition to being a frequent commentator on MSNBC, Maria Teresa serves as an occasional blogger for national outlets.
At Voto Latino, Maria Teresa has guided the organization’s growth through the use of creative campaigns that incorporate the latest online and mobile technology, celebrity voices and youth to create positive change. Maria Teresa started her career as a legislative aide.
She received her masters degree in public policy from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and a bachelors in international relations from the University of California at Davis.
Voto Latino
Founded in 2004, Voto Latino is a dynamic and growing non-partisan organization whose civic engagement campaigns have reached an estimated 55 million Latino households nationwide. United by the belief that Latino issues are American issues and American issues are Latino issues, Voto Latino is dedicated to bringing new and diverse voices into the political process by engaging youth, media, technology and celebrities to promote positive change.
Voto Latino has creatively and effectively used celebrity voices and the latest technology to register more than 120,000 young Latino voters, galvanize Latino youth and their families to be counted in the 2010 Census, and mobilize them to speak out and take action on policies impacting their lives.