The Foundation spearheaded the campaign to get a Latino artist recognized by the Kennedy Center Honors by shining a spotlight on its historic omission of featuring any Latino Kennedy Center Honorees. The year-long campaign was chronicled by Politico, The Washington Post, NBC News and ABC News.

The Honors program has since recognized Martina Arroyo (2013), Carlos Santana (2013), Rita Moreno (2015), Martha Argerich (2016), Gloria & Emilio Estefan (2017), Lin-Manuel Miranda (2018), Linda Ronstadt (2019), Joan Baez (2021), and Justino Diaz (2022).

The Foundation initiated public pressure on SNL Executive Producer Lorne Michaels concerning the historic lack of representation on SNL. Over a 40-year period, the show had never hired a Latina cast member and had included only two Latino male cast members. Our work eventually led to the hiring of Melissa Villaseñor. The Foundation’s commentary was featured in the Washington Post.

The Foundation also led the effort to rescind SNL’s invitation to Donald Trump to host the late night comedy show.

Latino performers have been overlooked and stereotyped by Hollywood for years. The old West Side Story was no exception. The Foundation took an active role in advising 20th Century Studios in the remake to ensure the story reflected the true Hispanic American experience.