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Hispanic Heritage Foundation and Instagram to recognize five Latinx influencers with the 2020 #YoSoy Award for their social activism during the 33rd Annual Hispanic Heritage Awards

Hispanic Heritage Foundation

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Hispanic Heritage Foundation (HHF) and Instagram will recognize five Latinx influencers for their advocacy work on mental health, undocumented workers, afrolatinx women, queer community, and civic engagement,  through Instagram during the 33rd Annual Hispanic Heritage Awards virtual prelude to the PBS broadcast. The IG Awardees include Ramon Contreras, Sara Mora, Adriana Alejandre, Louie A. Ortiz-Fonseca, and Janel Martinez.

This is the third year in the HHF and Instagram partnership to recognize the impact of Latinx content creators for their positive and inspiring advocacy work within the community – no matter what causes they stand for –  Instagram is the place where they have come together to share their identity, express themselves and connect with the people and things they love. (Click here to see #YoSoy Instagram Awardees video: ENGESP)

“It’s critical that leaders have the tools to maximize their impact on our communities especially during the multiple issues our country is facing right now,” said Antonio Tijerino, President and CEO of HHF.  “We are grateful to Instagram for providing a powerful tool which encourages, accelerates and amplifies social impact for our community which witness through Ramon, Sara, Adriana, Louie and Janel.  Through the #YoSoy effort, we can more powerfully come together and move forward as a community.”

The 2020 #YoSoy Instagram Awardees are:  

Ramon Contreras (@ramon.contreras1) is a young Afro-Latino activist and aspiring civil rights attorney from Harlem. Ramon founded Youth Over Guns in 2018 to bring more awareness to gun violence in Black and Brown communities and since then has traveled the country advocating for gun safety laws. Ramon also works on making voting more accessible to young people in America and works on electing young progressive political candidates throughout the country.

Sara Mora (@misssaramora) is a storyteller, digital strategist and artist. She is dedicated to education, language accessibility, storyteller rights and migrant rights. A DACA recipient herself, she has dedicated her youth to strategizing ways to support her community. She is the co-president of Women’s March Youth Empower, designed to provide voting and registration resources to young people.

Adriana Alejandre (@latinxtherapy) is a social entrepreneur, professional speaker and a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist from Los Angeles, CA who specializes in trauma and anxiety among adults. She is the founder of internationally recognized Latinx Therapy , the first directory and bilingual podcast that destigmatizes mental health myths & provides education to combat the stigma digitally and through in-person services. Her podcast has been featured in iTunes’ Top 200, Spotify’s Top 30 Latin shows, Apple Podcasts’, HipLatina and has been heard in over 112 countries. In 2019, she won Hispanizice’s TECLA award for Best Social Good Content award.

Louie A. Ortiz-Fonseca (@granvarones) is a queer HIV positive creative born and raised in Philadelphia, PA. He is the creator of Gran Varones, a digital project that highlights LGBTQ pop culture history and community storytelling through a Black/Latinx lens. He also works in partnership with young people living with HIV to combat stigma (Advocates for Youth), and hosts a YouTube series for LGBTQ youth, “Kikis with Louie”. Louie is a father of a 17 year-old son and worships the Patron St. Mariah Carey.

Janel Martinez (@janelm) is a writer and the founder of award-winning blog, @aintilatina?, an online destination celebrating Afro-Latinx womanhood. The Bronx, NY native of Garifuna descent has appeared as a featured guest on national shows and outlets, such as BuzzFeed, ESSENCE, NPR and Sirius XM, and her work has appeared in Adweek, Univision Communications, Oprah Magazine, Remezcla and The New York Times. Her work will be included in the forthcoming anthology, Wild Tongues Can’t Be Tamed, which will be published in fall 2021 by Flatiron Books.

Through the #YoSoy effort, Instagram and HHF recognize the impact of Latinx content creators for their positive and inspiring contributions within the community – whether they are artists, creators, photographers, authors, or activists.

About the Hispanic Heritage Foundation

The Hispanic Heritage Awards serve as a launch of HHF’s year-round, innovative, high-impact, actionable programs focused on education, workforce, leadership and culture.   HHF is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.  For more information, visit www.hispanicheritage.org and follow the Hispanic Heritage Foundation on InstagramFacebook and Twitter

For more information contact Nicolas Peña at Nicolas@HispanicHeritage.org

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