Who We Are
Poderistas® is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that launched in August 2020 and is one the fastest growing digital communities created by and for Latinas. Poderistas is a community built to celebrate Latina culture and harness the power of community. We elevate, celebrate, and inspire Latinas to amplify their voices and actions on behalf of themselves and their communities.
Poderistas is fiscally sponsored by Harness Community.
Our Mission
To build a community that inspires, affirms, and informs Latinas in order to help Latinas harness our power and exercise our leadership, not just in our own lives and families, but also within our communities —and in all aspects of civic engagement. Together, we will conquer the world.
Our Values
UNITY: We believe our voices have an impact when we come together. Our collective unity will inspire community and civic engagement among Latinas.
CONFIDENCE: Our message is clear: Latinas are the backbone of our community. Not only are you powerful, but now is the time to think about how you want to believe in and use that power.
ACTION: We don’t just watch, we take action. Our platform is dedicated to sharing empowering content for all Latinas.
INFLUENCE: Our goal is to shift lifestyle, build lasting confidence, and inspire community and civic engagement among Latinas.
INCLUSIVITY: We believe in inclusivity. We value all who show up – however that is. We value our uniqueness, our varied experiences, differences and commonalities.
HOPE: We believe in a bright and hopeful future for all Latinas. There are opportunities and there are ways forward. We move forward with hope for a better future for Latinas everywhere.
Our Team
Founders
Founded by leaders from the worlds of organizing, politics, and entertainment.
Alexandra Martinez-Kondracke
An award-winning writer, producer of Showtime’s The L Word and HBO's Hung, and a Co-Founder of The Latinx House, a gathering place for Latinx creatives in the entertainment and social impact fields.
America Ferrera
A producer, director, and award-winning actress, America is the co-founder of Harness, an organization that brings artists and activists together to power social change.
Carmen Perez
The president and CEO of The Gathering for Justice, a movement dedicated to eliminating the racial inequities in the justice system, Carmen is also the co-founder of the Justice League NYC, which is dedicated to juvenile justice, and a board member of the historic Women's March.
Christy Haubegger
Now the Executive Vice President and Chief Enterprise Inclusion Officer of WarnerMedia, Haubegger is the Founder of Latina Magazine and served as CEO and Publisher for its first eight years.
Elsa Collins
A social impact consultant working at the nexus of sports, entertainment, and culture, she is the co-founder of This is about Humanity, a movement focused on helping vulnerable families at the U.S-Mexico border.
Eva Longoria
An award-winning actress, director, producer, entrepreneur, and philanthropist, Eva is the founder of the Eva Longoria Foundation, which is dedicated to helping Latinas build brighter futures through education.
Jess Morales Rocketto
The Chief of Moonshot Strategies at Equis Research and the Chair of Families Belong Together Coalition, which seeks to end family separation and detention. Formerly The Political Director of the National Domestic Workers Alliance and the Executive Director of Care in Action, both of which are dedicated to protecting the rights of domestic workers.
Mónica Ramírez
A lawyer and organizer working to uphold the human rights of women, children, workers, Latinx communities, and immigrants, Mónica is the founder of Justice for Migrant Women and Co-Founder of both the National Farmworkers Women's Alliance and The Latinx House.
Olga Segura
A producer, actress, activist, and entrepreneur. She is also the co-founder of Latinx House, a gathering place for the Latinx community creatives in film, entertainment and social impact work.
Stephanie Valencia
An entrepreneur and leader in the fields of politics and technology, Stephanie is also the co-founder of EquisLab, an organization that is working to create a better understanding of the Latinx electorate.
Founded by leaders from the worlds of organizing, politics, and entertainment.
Staff
Meet the team behind Poderistas.
SOCIAL MEDIA COORDINATOR
Arely Soriano
A beauty and fashion model as well as social media enthusiast, Arely joined the team as an intern and is now our social media manager.
Before joining the team, she was managing her university’s social media accounts which under her guidance grew exponentially. Arely is proud of her Mexican and Salvadoran roots and continues to advocate for her community in her everyday life.
LinkedIn
EDITORIAL DIRECTOR
Brittany Alfonzo
Combining her expertise in social media and digital marketing with her passion for the Latinx community, Brittany has been an integral member of the organization since the summer of 2020.
Prior to Poderistas, she spent a decade navigating the world of digital marketing while bringing creativity, drive, and purpose to every project including work for Fortune 500 companies, CPG & wellness brands, and cultural institutions. Brittany believes that through the power of social media, we can transform ourselves, our communities & our future for the better.
LinkedIn
MANAGING DIRECTOR
Charlotte Castillo
A seasoned brand builder, Charlotte is a hands-on collaborative leader dedicated to building strong, fearless, innovative, and inclusive teams.
Before Poderistas, Charlotte was an award-winning senior executive at ViacomCBS for 14+ years, managing the strategic development, planning and marketing for all licensing IP. She was also the founding Marketing Director for Latina Magazine.
LinkedIn
Meet the team behind Poderistas.
Board of Directors
- America Ferrera
- Mónica Ramírez
- Olga Segura
- Stephanie Valencia
- Charlotte Castillo
What We Do
By bringing culture and lifestyle content together — with direct and ongoing calls to become civically engaged — we’ve built a unique space that builds trust with our community through non-political social and cultural content – from health to entertainment and beauty to careers. Building that trust helps to create the space to have a conversation about increasing their participation in civic life and reinforcing messages about participation, claiming power and a greater sense of belonging.
Building confidence, providing information, and building a shared community will lead to collective action. We employ 4 key pillars to achieve our goals:
We highlight and celebrate Latina stories and share relevant information and resources.
We collaborate with organizations to co-create and amplify content to scale our efforts.
We create programming that provides space for engagement and impact.
We assemble and nurture the strength of our community.
Our Community
Our Supporters
Seed Funders
Funders
About Harness
Harness was founded by America Ferrera, Wilmer Valderrama, and Ryan Piers Williams as a gathering of friends in response to the 2016 presidential election and the following period of social upheaval. Since its founding, Harness has grown into a national, intersectional community of artists, movement leaders, activists, media and entertainment industry allies, and strategists that amplify the experiences of historically-marginalized communities to reach millions of people. We work with a community of incredible cultural organizers to harness their talent, passion, and platform to imagine and create a world where everyone has safety, opportunity, and dignity.
Our programs and campaigns have catalyzed wide-scale support, prominent media coverage, inclusion in pop culture storylines, and transformative partnerships for frontline leaders from historically-marginalized groups. In addition to our long standing artist engagement, industry impact, and community building programs, Harness houses several timely culture change and civic engagement initiatives, including Protect the Sacred, Culture Surge, and Poderistas.