TEDxPasadena speaks with National Hispanic Media Coalition

Last week our Executive Director Heather Heimerl Brunold and one of our speakers from last year’s conference were featured in a podcast episode by the National Hispanic Media Coalition (NHMC)!

In the episode, Brenda Rivas, senior vice president of human resources and operations at NHMC, chats with Heather and Amara Barroeta – one of our previous speakers – about the history of TEDxPasadena and what it’s like to speak at our conference. The podcast is 30 minutes long and goes over some fun facts about our history (like how our first conference was held at the L.A. College of Music) and our mission to promote muted voices.

Brenda also dedicates some time in the episode to talking to Amara, a Venezuela native and the owner of Amara Chocolate & Coffee Cafe – Pasadena’s first Venezuelan cafe. Last year, Amara gave a TEDxTalk about life in her home country and her move to the United States.

In 2002, she was crowned first runner-up in the Miss Venezuela pageant, which opened up the opportunity for her to become a television newscaster and travel the world. While she lived in Venezuela, she also obtained her degree in chemical engineering with a specialization in food processing.

But amid rising political unrest and corruption in Venezuela, she decided to move to the United States in 2012.

In her chat with Brenda, Amara talks about her TEDxTalk and why she chose that as the topic of her speech. If you haven’t seen her speech yet, titled “Una Immigrant Venezolana, Strong and Resilient,” you can check it out below:

We hope you’ll check out the podcast and that you enjoy it as much as we did! In addition to learning about our history, mission, and about Amara, the podcast delves into what we do for the community, how to apply to become a TEDxPasadena speaker, the speaker selection process, our parent company Words2Action, opportunities to volunteer, and our sponsorship program.

You can listen to the podcast on the NHMC website here or on Soundcloud here.

Also be sure to check out the National Hispanic Media Coalition on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.