On July 28th, 2021, SDSN USA and The Hispanic Star co-hosted a webinar focused on helping SDSN USA members and partners plan activations for Hispanic Heritage Month.

Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15 - October 15, 2021) represents an opportunity to ensure Hispanics are seen, heard and valued. In this month, SDSN USA invites Network Members to join the initiative to capture the world's attention, highlighting Hispanic contributions, stories and data. SDSN USA encourages members to be intentional in elevating the voice and perception of the Hispanic community. The time is now to send together a strong and unified message.

The webinar kicked off with remarks from Dr. Helen Bond, Co-chair of SDSN USA and Professor at Howard University, who highlighted SDSN USA’s past and current Diversity, Equity, and Justice initiatives. These initiatives include the Never More Urgent report, In the Red: the US Failure to Deliver on a Promise of Racial Equality index, and the new Working Group focused on Diversity, Equity, and Justice for Sustainable Development, which she co-chairs.

Claudia Romo Edelman of We Are All Human presented The Hispanic Star toolkit to help institutions activate for Hispanic Heritage Month in the fall. The toolkit includes a unifying messaging framework, unifying data sets, and unifying branding and communications assets, allowing SDSN USA member institutions to amplify Hispanic voices across their platforms, plan internal and external Hispanic Heritage Month events and initiatives, and join in activities with local Hispanic Star Hubs. A video of the event can be found below.

In October, SDSN USA hopes to elevate and advance of Hispanic voices by showcasing Hispanic contributions, stories, and data with a Hispanic Heritage Month Research Panel. SDSN USA has released a call for research submissions, hoping to capture researchers in the network who are interested in presenting their work. Research centering on the Hispanic community on a range of topics including environmental justice, health, education, and more will be considered. If interested, please send a 200-word abstract of your research to usa@unsdsn.org for consideration, and share with other members of your institution. Deadline: August 20th. More information about the October event will be released shortly.

This Hispanic Heritage Month, SDSN USA is committed to making sure Hispanics are seen, heard and valued - and we hope that you will join us in this effort!