The Annual Conference was held in Las Vegas, Nevada, July 15-17, 2024, and convened one of the largest gatherings of Latinos working to solve their most pressing issues across the country and create opportunities for all communities.
The 2024 UnidosUS Annual Conference, “Our Time is Now!” shed light on the critical efforts of our leaders and advocates, including closing the Latino homeownership gap, increasing access to affordable healthcare and building political power for Latinos in this critical election year.
President and CEO Janet Murguía kicked off the first day of the Conference delivering passionate remarks about the power of Latinos in American democracy, while also recognizing that she has seen increased levels of ambivalence about the upcoming elections.
“For decades, we have worked hard to naturalize, register, educate and mobilize voters in election after election, building our community power through the ballot box one vote at a time,” Murguía said. “With each election, we’ve established the Latino community as a deciding factor and have successfully redefined the electoral map to the presidency.”
She fiercely denounced mass deportations and any efforts to eliminate DACA and praised President Joe Biden and his administration for their recent efforts to promote compassionate immigration relief and reform by providing protection from deportation for undocumented children and spouses of US citizens.
Murguía ended her remarks with a rally cry for Latino communities to use their voices and power at the ballot box, “We have to use the power of our voice and, above all, come election time, we have to use the power of our vote. Our time is now! ¡Es nuestro momento!”
Affiliate of the Year Award
UnidosUS awarded the Affiliate of the Year Award to The Concilio, an organization that has served the Latino community of North Texas for 40 years. In addition to the Affiliate of the Year, UnidosUS presented regional awards to some of our most extraordinary Affiliates.
Our Honorees
During our Annual Conference, UnidosUS proudly honored four Latino leaders and trailblazers for their exemplary work in advancing the Latino community. UnidosUS President and CEO Janet Murguía presented the awards during the gala on the final night of the three-day event.
This year’s awardees include:
• The Graciela Olivarez La Raza Award: Maria Teresa Kumar, Voto Latino
• The Maclovio Barraza Award for Leadership: Astrid Silva, Dream Big Nevada
• The Ruben Salazar Award for Communications: Hector Tobar, Author
• The Raul Yzaguirre President’s Award: Dr. Richard Besser, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Pre-registration is now open for the 2025 UnidosUS Annual Conference in Kansas City!
Join us in celebrating UnidosUS President and CEO Janet Murguía’s 20th year leading the nation’s largest Hispanic civil rights organization.
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