Building on day one’s roundtable conversations between Latino leaders and key Administration officials, the second day of the White House Hispanic Community Action Summit focuses on action planning through the Open Space Process.
Our goal is to have Hispanic leaders working together alongside Administration officials and moving beyond talk to creating commitments to develop new or expanded projects, public‐private partnerships or any other action‐oriented pieces they choose.
The focus of our time together will be “Winning the Future: President Obama’s Agenda and the Hispanic Community,” a theme broad enough to capture any important issue for the Latino community you want to pursue.
What Is Open Space?
If you are tired of conferences or workshops where the speakers don’t cover the issues you want to explore or don’t give you enough time to discuss the topics with your colleagues, the Open Space Process is for you.
Open Space is a process designed to take care of the needs of every participant and to build on the many assets and talents that each of you bring into the room. The typical conference questions—who are the speakers? What is the agenda? How long do we have for each topic? Which workshops are they offering?—are irrelevant.
Think of the Open Space Process as a day‐long coffee break—that part of a traditional summit where you find the people with whom you really want to connect and talk about the issues most important to you. In the Open Space Process that’s what you do for the entire day, not just at breaks or at lunch before the keynote speeches begin.
How Does the Open Space Process Work?
You identify the specific topics, issues and questions you want to explore and/or share with your colleagues that fit within the overall theme.
Together, you create the agenda and place it on a community bulletin board for all to see.
You take the lead to:
Present what you have learned and want to share with others or open a conversation on a burning question or topic you want to explore with other summit participants where you don’t have answers; Attend only those sessions that truly engage you, for which you feel some passion; Begin action planning on how you, other Latino leaders, and Administration officials can tackle these crucial issues together.
There will be different levels of knowledge and experience represented by each person participating at the summit. Open Space is grounded on the principle that there are no hierarchies—all participants have equal status. Everyone is a learner and real world expert who is invited to share what he/she knows or to seek what he/she does not. And, everyone has the responsibility to do what it takes to make the most of the opportunity.
To make the Open Space Process work, we need you to bring four things:
- Share and Teach—What topics would you be willing to lead where you share your experiences and lessons learned or help others who have a similar goal?
- Learn and Listen—What topics do you want to learn more about from other summit participants, which you would be willing to convene?
- Materials and Handouts—Bring any materials or handouts you wish to share with people related to the topics you will lead or co‐lead.
- Responsibility and Passion—Bring your responsibility to make the process work for everyone, and most importantly, bring your passion.
The Mechanics
At the beginning of the session, each participant who is willing to lead or convene a session makes a short public announcement about the topic; this leads to the creation of the agenda.
Examples of topics that could be covered include:
• Share and Teach: “I run a successful job training program aimed at growing industries that corrects workforce mismatches in the short term and propels traditionally underserved workers into well‐paying jobs in high demand areas of the labor market. Anyone interested in talking about what we’ve learned about running these programs and how we can increase these types of public‐private partnerships should join us in Room A starting at 10 a.m. for a 90‐minute conversation.”
• Learn and Listen: “We have a large number of Spanish‐speaking kids at our schools for the first time in our southeastern state. We have never offered bilingual education programs. We need your help. I’ll help co‐lead the conversation, but we would love to have people that have put together new programs to join us to give us their guidance on how best to set up these programs. We’ll meet in Room B at 9 a.m. for two hours.”
Participants then sign up and join the conversations they are interested in or can offer other possible issues to the group as a whole. And then the fun begins!
Why Open Space?
This process provides each of us with a chance to share our talents, experiences and motivation to better serve the Latino community. It is one of the few processes where everyone, not just a handful of speakers, get the chance to step up and make things happen.
Please join other summit participants for an unforgettable, exhilarating, and energizing experience created, directed, and led by all of you, together. We look forward to joining you.
Rules
- Whoever is there is the right group.
- When it starts is when it starts.
- Whatever happens is all that could have happened.
- When it’s over, it’s over.
The Law of Two Feet
If you find yourself in a situation where you are not contributing or learning, move to a place where you can.
Step 1. Participants take a sheet of paper and write down: a suggested topic, issue or activity; name of convener(s); room location; length of session; and start time.
Step 2. Participants make a short public announcement about the topic or activity they are willing to lead or a discussion they are willing to begin.
Step 3. Sheets of paper are placed on the wall for all to see.
Step 4. Participants sign up for sessions they are interested in. Any potential time conflicts are worked out by participants. Don’t forget to find a note taker for the session.
Step 5. After the session finishes, the volunteer note taker should go to the laptop table and type in the highlights of the session so they can be included in the overall proceedings.
SUGGESTED TOPICS/ISSUES/ACTIVITIES
1. Share/Teach: Please list a topic, issue or activity in which you would like to share your experiences or help others with a similar concern. Be brief.
- Would you be willing to lead or co-lead the discussion? - How much time will you need for this topic?
2. Learn/Listen: Please list a topic, issue or activity you would like to learn more about. Be brief.
- Would you be willing to help begin the discussion? - How much time will you need for this topic?
Juan Sepulveda, Director
White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics
Juan Sepúlveda was appointed by Secretary of Education Arne Duncan on May 19, 2009, to the position of director of the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics. In this capacity, he is responsible for directing the efforts of the White House Initiative in engaging Hispanic students, parents, families, organizations, and anyone working in or with the education system in communities nationwide as active participants in improving the academic achievement of Hispanic Americans.
For the last 20 years, Sepúlveda has been a senior executive, strategist, and advocate in the nonprofit and philanthropic communities, with a focus in community development, capacity building, and transformational management. Prior to assuming his current position at the Department, Sepúlveda was president of The Common Enterprise (TCE), which he founded in 1995 as an outgrowth of a national Rockefeller Foundation initiative to help build stronger communities across America by making nonprofits, philanthropic organizations, governments, businesses, and communities more effective as they tackled significant critical social issues in more than 35 states and nationally.
Having grown up in a working class Mexican-American neighborhood in Topeka, Kan., Sepúlveda has been involved in community organizing and politics since the age of 16, when he was the first high school student hired to work for the Kansas Secretary of State. He also worked closely with the late Willie Velasquez and the Southwest Voter Registration Education Project and permanently moved to San Antonio, Texas, in the late 1980s, making it his new home. He completed a political biography of Willie and an organizational history of Southwest Voter, The Life and Times of Willie Velasquez—Su Voto Es Su Voz (Your Vote is Your Voice), published by Arte Público Press in May 2004.
Sepúlveda received a bachelor’s degree in government from Harvard University. The third Latino ever to be awarded a Rhodes Scholarship, he graduated with a combined degree in politics, philosophy, and economics from the Queens College of Oxford University. He received a J.D. from Stanford University and has been admitted to the Texas Bar.
He is married to Teresa Niño, director of external affairs at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services at the Department of Health and Human Services. They have two children, Michael and Victoria, both in college and both alumni of City Year—Chicago. Juan and Teresa currently live in Washington, D.C., but San Antonio, Texas, remains home for them.
Stephanie Valencia
Deputy Director, White House Office of Public Engagement
Valencia oversees operations and programs to engage communities and leaders across the country. Previously, she handled outreach to the Latino community, immigration, and housing groups and worked on Puerto Rico issues. Prior to joining the Administration, Valencia served on the Obama-Biden Presidential Transition Team and was Deputy Latino Vote Director on the Obama Campaign. She also served as Press Secretary to then Senator Ken Salazar, serving as his spokeswoman and media advisor. She also worked in the House of Representatives as Special Assistant and Press Secretary to the Vice Chair of the Democratic Caucus, Congressman John B. Larson from Connecticut. She also served as Press Secretary for Congresswoman Linda Sanchez. Valencia started her career as a Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute Fellow and is a graduate of Boston College. She is originally from Las Cruces, New Mexico.
Francisco Sanchez
Under Secretary for International Trade at the U.S. Department of Commerce:
Francisco J. Sánchez was appointed by President Obama and unanimously confirmed by the United State Senate to serve as Under Secretary for International Trade at the U.S. Department of Commerce. As Under Secretary, Sánchez leads the International Trade Administration which assists in the development of U.S. trade policy in the global economy; creates jobs and economic growth by promoting U.S. companies; strengthens American competitiveness across all industries; addresses market access and compliance issues; administers U.S. trade laws; and undertakes a range of trade promotion and trade advocacy efforts.
As a senior policy advisor to President Obama during the 2008 campaign, Sánchez served as the Chairman of the National Hispanic Leadership Council and also provided policy support on issues pertaining to Latin America. Sánchez now brings his wide range of experience in both federal and state government as well as in the private sector to his leadership position at ITA.
Sánchez served as the Assistant Secretary for Aviation and International Affairs at the U.S. Department of Transportation during the Clinton administration, where he developed aviation policy and oversaw international negotiations. Sánchez had previously served in the White House as a Special Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff to the Special Envoy to the Americas, Kenneth MacKay, where he focused on economic integration and democracy issues throughout the Western Hemisphere. He began his career in government working as Director of Florida’s Caribbean Basin Initiative Program for then-Governor Bob Graham.
Sánchez was named one of the 100 Most Influential Hispanics by Hispanic Business Magazine and also one of the top Hispanics nationwide by Poder Magazine. Sánchez is on the board of directors for the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) and is a member of the board for the Council of Foreign Relations. He has been awarded the National Point of Light Award and the Governor’s Point of Light Award for Outstanding Community Service. In 2010, he was named to the National Hall of Fame for the Boys and Girls Club of America.
A native of Florida, Sánchez obtained his B.A. and J.D. from Florida State University. He also received a Masters in Public Administration from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. Sánchez has published articles and taught negotiation and conflict resolution at the Program of Instruction at Harvard Law School as well as other institutions.
Esther Olavarria
Deputy Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security for Policy :
Esther Olavarria is currently Deputy Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security for Policy. Born in Cuba she came to the United States at age 5 with her four siblings and her parents. She graduated cum laude from the University of Florida in 1983 and received her law degree from the University of Florida Levin College of Law in 1986. Ms. Olavarria was featured in several films in the documentary series How Democracy Works Now: Twelve Stories.
Ms. Olavarria has spent years representing immigrants and working on the issue of immigration. Between 1986 and 1998 she was a staff attorney for the Haitian Refugee Center, co-founder and managing attorney of the Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center, and on staff with Legal Services of Greater Miami as directing attorney with the American Immigration Lawyer Pro Bono Project. From 1998-2007 she was counsel to Sen. Edward Kennedy and the United States Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security, and Refugees and from 2007-8 Senior Advisor for Government and External Relations to the
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. From August 2008 until her appointment to the Department of Homeland Security in February 2009 she was Senior Fellow and Director of Immigration Policy at the Center for American Progress.
Teresa Niño
Director, Office of Public Engagement for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services:
In May 2009, the Obama Administration appointed Ms. Teresa Niño as Director of the Office of External Affairs (OEA) for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). In this role, she guides 200 employees to successfully achieve the strategic communication objectives to promote vital health care for the more than 90 million Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries.
Ms. Niño brings to CMS over 20 years of experience directing strategic communications and marketing initiatives. She previously served as the Director of Communications and Legislative Affairs at the National Trauma Institute in San Antonio. In addition, she worked for the San Antonio Express-News, as both Director of Community Relations and Director of Marketing. She was the Director of Marketing and Business Development for the Greater Kelly Development Authority.
During the Clinton Administration, Ms. Niño served as DHHS Secretary Shalala’s Director of Outreach, where she was highly involved with various interagency and White House Committees, including the Interagency Committee on Persian Gulf Mystery Illnesses, the Environmental Justice Committee, the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics, and the White House Executive Order on Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). She also worked with the Health Care Financing Administration (now CMS).
Ms. Niño launched her journalism career in 1986 as a TV Reporter. In 1989, she assisted in the campaign that led to Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley’s election, later serving as Mayor Daley’s Assistant Press Secretary.
Lisa Pino
Deputy Administrator of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program:
Lisa Pino is an attorney who was appointed as Deputy Administrator of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as the Food Stamp Program, at the Food and Nutrition Service of USDA. She most recently served as Director of Public Affairs for the bilingual broadcasting network HITN-TV in New York, and Director of Public Affairs for IIA College in Arizona.
Her background in community work includes a focus on serving immigrant and low-income communities in areas including law, housing, education, labor and employment. She has additionally served the Florence Immigrant Rights and Refugee Project, Community Legal Services Farmworker Unit, Littler Global Migration Group, the Government Accountability Office, U.S. Attorney's Office, and the Library of Congress. A New York native, she received her B.A., M.A., and J.D. at Arizona State University, and she is a member of the Arizona Bar. In 2008, she completed Harvard University's Executive Public Leadership program as a National Hispana Leadership Institute Fellow, and The White House Project Program in New York.
Jorge Silva-Puras
Regional Administrator, Region II
Jorge Silva-Puras was sworn in as the United States Small Business Administration (SBA) Region II Administrator on May 3, 2010. He oversees SBA’s programs and services in the Region II office, which is headquartered in New York City, and includes SBA offices in New York City, Albany, Buffalo, Hauppauge, Elmira, Rochester and Syracuse, N.Y.; Newark, N.J.; San Juan, P.R.; and St. Croix, V.I. There are approximately 2.7 million small businesses located in Region II, with over $1.8 billion in SBA-guaranteed lending to small businesses in the last year.
Before joining the SBA, Mr. Silva-Puras presided Interaktiva, LLC, a management consulting firm in San Juan, and between 2005 and 2009 served as Chief of Staff to the Governor of Puerto Rico; Executive
Director of the Puerto Rico Industrial Development Company resident of the Economic Development Bank for Puerto Rico; and as Puerto Rico’s Secretary of Economic Development & Commerce.
During his tenure as Secretary of Economic Development, Mr. Silva-Puras served as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the: Puerto Rico Industrial Development Company, Puerto Rico Tourism Company, Puerto Rico Commerce and Trade Company, Puerto Rico Science and Technology Trust, among several other boards. He also served as member of the Board of Directors of the Government Development Bank and the Economic Development Bank for Puerto Rico.
Previous to his government roles, Silva-Puras worked for The Procter & Gamble Company at its corporate headquarters in Cincinnati, and at its San Juan office, where he managed marketing efforts for the US Hispanic and Caribbean regions. He also worked at Citigroup, managing the Citicards Puerto Rico business, and practiced law for three years at one of the principal law firms in San Juan.
He received his BA degree from Yale University, J.D. from the University of Puerto Rico and MBA in International Management from the University of Texas at Austin and the Copenhagen Business School in Denmark. He is married and has four children.
