The last weekend of April 2018, Wieden+Kennedy sponsored me and two other members of W+K Latinx Club to go to a Courageous
Conversations-hosted Latinx Racial Equity Leadership Retreat in Santa Fe, New Mexico. It was there that I learned immensely about myself, my culture, my racial identity, and how systemic racism has shaped the Latinx narrative in the United States as well as Latin American countries. I also had the opportunity to connect, heal, and train with amazing Latinx leaders from all across America. I was the youngest to attend the conference, so to me it was beyond inspiring to see such a vast number of Latinx leaders strive to better themselves in order to improve their work environments and communities. Because of what I learned there, I feel more confident than ever to speak my truth daily and to utilize the tools I gained from the conference to support and lift up fellow students and women of color in the historically white male- dominated space that is the advertising industry. In the era of TIME’S UP and #MeToo, woman of color are the strongest changemakers, and I plan to be a part of that change throughout my professional career.