Lance Ríos – Founder and Presidente – New York, NY
Lancio (Lance) Antonio Rios grew up on the west side of Cleveland, Ohio. Lance’s long-time interest in Latino cultures and communities spiked when he accepted an internship in the South Bronx in New York City, soon after earning a Bachelor’s in Sports Management and Marketing from Bowling Green State University. After witnessing the diversity of the Latino culture in the area, he decided that moving to New York would be more beneficial. He has finessed many talents through working in English and Spanish-language media and has recently developed a Facebook fan page called Being Latino. Since May, Being Latino has experienced tremendous and exponential growth with support from Latinos who care about discussing history, culture and social issues. Since its conception, Being Latino has already harnessed over 60,000 fans with an additional 170+ Latino-based fan pages on Facebook, a following on Google Buzz, Twitter, YouTube and WordPress which collectively equates to over 100,000 in a year with a $0.00 budget.
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Libby Juliá Vázquez – Chief Content Officer – Chicago, IL
Libby was born in Rochester, NY and spent her life moving between Puerto Rico, Chicago and Utah. Her love for writing began at the age of 12 when she received a red journal for her birthday. Scarlett, as she named it, is still around holding some of the innermost thought of a sixth grader.
Libby is owner of Write Media, a freelance writing, communications company and also serves as online editor for New Futuro. She joined Being Latino, Inc. in April 2010 as a contributor and was named Chief Content Officer in January 2011. Libby’s also active in the Chicago community writing about volunteer opportunities for examiner.com and maintaining a blog about her Humboldt Park neighborhood. You can contact Libby via Facebook or bleditor.libby@gmail.com.
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Tatiana Perez – Philanthropy Director – Brooklyn, NY
Born and raised in Sunset Park, Brooklyn she is no stranger to the looks of a growing Latino Community. Its diversity has only flourished as she has grown. At age 17, she contributed to her community by volunteering at her local Community Center. As a Child Mentor to middle school children she was able to witness the growth of the individuals in her neighborhood only inciting more curiosity for the neighborhood. Acknowledging the difference a persons involvement of the community could make she decided to expand her Volunteer work. Getting involved with several Organizations and helping Fund-raise for various causes.
Currently a Legal Assistant to both a Criminal Defense and Civil Rights Attorneys, a student and an active Volunteer. She continues to commit to helping develop opportunities in which she can provide assistance, while learning from the range of individuals on BL.
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Joshua “Xeno” Martinez – Creative Director – Bronx, NY
Joshua “Xeno” Martinez is simply an artist striving to find his artistic voice in a society that simultaneously promotes and limits self-expression. Previously active as a political activist for the fight against homophobia and racism, Xeno strives to create awareness about the importance of pride by focusing his artwork on blatant images of homosexuality and the queer community as a whole. By incorporating pop culture references into his artwork, Xeno desires to create a space where being “queer” is the norm; essentially taking ownership of a realm of society that is deemed for the straight community.
As a Latino man and a queer individual, Xeno Martinez understands the need to recognize our interconnected identities. People are not just simply one thing but rather a multitude of different identifications combined. Gay, male, brother, son, uncle, friend, artist, and entrepreneur, Xeno hopes that his art can shed light on the need for love and acceptance; not tolerance. Through his involvement in Being Latino, he hopes to further that while helping to foster dialogue about other issues surrounding the Latino community as a whole and the need for a unified front to combat prejudice.
You can check out Xeno’s art work at his facebook fan page, The Art Work of Xeno Martinez as well as his writings at Chronicles Of A Size Queen: The Expectations, Opinions, And Confessions Of One Gay Man.
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Robert Rios III – Events Director – New York, NY
Robert Rios III is a multi-talented Writer, Entertainer and Entrepreneur whose career has spanned over a decade in the Music, Night Life, Tourism and Hospitality Marketing industries.
As a Singer-Songwriter, this NuYoRican Bronx Native has completed several independently released EP’s, including “The Real R&B”, “The Awakening”, and most recently “The B-Side”, performing steadily throughout the NYC Club circuit. Trained as a Classical Vocalist care of the “Famed” LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, he’s well versed in the styles of Classical, Jazz, Contemporary, Latin and R&B/Soul music.
Building up a vast network within the entertainment industry, he has hosted, performed in, and produced various forms of live shows involving music, poetry, dance, and comedy. His focus has always been on the creation and promotion of quality English Language Entertainment, for and by Latinos. Putting his skills to use as a contributor to Being Latino since February, he was recently placed with the successful task of coordinating the first ever Being Latino Contributors Brunch and has now taken on a role amongst the BL Events Team.
You can find out more about Robert’s music and upcoming shows by logging on to www.ReverbNation.com/RobRiosMusic.
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Cesar Vargas – Production Director – Brooklyn, NY
Cesar was born and raised in the Dominican Republic and came to the States when he was thirteen years old. He received a B.A. in Film Studies from Queens College, CUNY. Cesar’s worked in both the Fashion and Film industry. He has written over four hundred poems, one hundred songs, halfway through a book, three screenplays and is in preparation to shoot a feature film, Sojourner’s Lament, and two documentaries. He volunteers and donates money mostly to causes Being Latino supports. He also helps out people in the community in no relation to any non-profit
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Nelson O. Figueroa – Facebook Engagement Manager – Queens, NY
The son of Puerto Rican-born parents, Nelson was born in Brooklyn and raised in the Far Rockaway section of Queens, New York. Growing up, music was a major factor his upbringing, with his mother coming from a very musically diverse family and his father introducing him to other types of music such as classic rock. He learned to appreciate all types of music although I tend to drift primarily towards salsa.
Other than music, Nelson likes to spend time with friends and family. He’s also a bit of a sports freak , you can find him cheering for his New York teams: the Mets and the Giants. You might also catch him at a nearby handball court on occasion during the summer.
Nelson has been involved with Being Latino in many supportive roles beginning in 2010 with the fundraiser for Haiti. His ability to engage others in conversation with humor and an open mind made him the ideal candidate for the role of Facebook Engagement Manager; while his love and knowledge of music makes him the perfect fit for the magazine series, Flashback Friday.
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Michael Muller – Musica Latina Community Manager – Utica, NY
Michael Muller was born in Syracuse, NY and grew up mainly in Batavia. He mainly had to discover his Latino roots by himself, as his Venezuelan father was absent from his life. He traveled to Mexico 3 times during the 1980s. Later in the 90s he discovered the Puerto Rican cultural scenes of Buffalo and Rochester, NY, listening to local Salsa radio programs, and attending summer festivals/concerts. He first experienced NYC Latino culture in the late 1990s, and today visits the city once a year on a coach bus trip from Utica, NY. He helps to support Utica’s Latin scene as much as he can, as well as online culture, mainly on facebook. He is an Elementary Band Director the The South Lewis Central School District, a husband, father of 3, and also a practicing poet. He keeps active on his trombone and conga drums. Michael’s Latin musical interests are in any genre he can put his ears too.
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Frankie De Soto – Being Puerto Rican Community Manager – Dallas, TX
Frankie De Soto was born on the beautiful island of Puerto Rico. He graduated from the University of North Texas with a bachelor’s degree in Art and two minors in Marketing and Radio, Television and Film. After a couple years doing graphic design, he decided to go back to school realizing the big shift to online. He enrolled at the University of Texas at Dallas for an MFA in Arts & Technology and there he discover his passion in online media, cyberculture and Latin American studies.
Being Latino Online Magazine 