* Organized a media outreach trip to New York City for Congressman Sam Farr (CA), who is the Chair of the Travel and Tourism Congressional Caucus, along with several leaders of Travel Industry, and the Program Director of Washington Office on Latin America. I coordinated outreach to the participants, helped set up the press appointments, produced the press kits, pre-briefed the Congressman, and attended each appointment. I also helped with the advance work for the Congressman. Press coverage related to our September 21st outreach coordination includes: (hyperlinked below)
· Travel Weekly: Trade group presidents denied Cuba entry, September 21, 2009
· Bloomberg News: Overturning Cuba Travel Ban May Pass House This Year, Farr Says, September 21, 2009
· Travel Agent Central: Congressman Voices Support for Lifting Cuba Travel Ban, September 23, 2009
· New York Times’ Travel In Transit: Congressional Bill to Lift Cuban Travel Ban Makes Progress, September 23, 2009
· Periodico 26.Cu/ Local Newspaper of Las Tunas, Cuba: Legislation to End Travel Ban on Cuba May Pass U.S. House of Representatives, September 23, 2009
· El Diario NY: End the Travel Ban to Cuba- Opinion Piece, September 24, 2009
· Travel Video News: NTA Press Release, September 24, 2009
· Performance Media Group/ Travel Pulse: Top Travel News, Travel Industry Leaders Push to Open Cuba to U.S. Visitors-NTA Press Release, September 25, 2009
* Participate as a freelance journalist in several radio interviews in efforts to educate the U.S. public on different historical events, and political and economic issues, including as a volunteer international co-correspondent for KPFA- Hard Knock Radio, assisting in conducting interviews in diverse journalistic environments varying from the World Social Forum in Nairobi, Kenya, Hip-Hop artists in Niger, Presidential candidates on “Radio Row” during the New Hampshire primary election, and most recently coverage of President Obama's election day in Chicago and Justice Sonia Sotomayor's Supreme Court Confirmation Hearing. (all data links available). Selected listed below:
· Interviewed by MIT Campus radio covering activities organized around National CubaGO Day and discussion on U.S.- Cuba policy and relations: http://www.archive.org/details/SpherioCubago
· Interviewed by Gregg Bridges of Hard Knock Radio, KPFA Pacifica Radio with coverage the election day of Barack Obama from Chicago: http://www.kpfa.org/archive/id/45763
* Selected speaker on several panels to discuss to youth political activism and through life-experience I am able to effectively and respectfully communicate to diverse individuals/groups, from Congressional Hill meetings to “inner-city” youth, (1998-Present)
* Youngest participant of a documentary team that researched and produced footage on the impact the U.S. embargo on Cuba has had on common a Cuban person, which was later presented to at the California Democratic Convention in 2000. This contributed to the CA state party passing a resolution into the California State Democratic Party Platform to end the travel and trade restriction on Cuba.
* Developed Media/press relations and outreach tools within local, national, and international networks.