HITN’s flagship program, Estudio DC, is offering a special coverage of the 2023 Leadership Conference organized by the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute (CHCI).

The production team made its way to the nation’s capital to report on the happenings at the event, which featured highly informative talks and panels for the Latino community. These sessions will be presented in a series of special episodes airing in consecutive weekly broadcasts of Estudio DC.

One of the panels featured in this coverage was hosted by Congresswoman Norma Torres (D-CA 35), where she emphasized the importance of financial well-being for Latinas. “Latinas, in particular, face one of the widest racial, ethnic, and gender pay gaps in the country due to the high cost of higher education. And we carry a significant amount of student debt,” noted Torres during the panel. She explained that one of the factors affecting the financial health of Latina women in the U.S. is the lack of generational wealth.

Another expert present in this special edition of Estudio DC is Rodrigo Domínguez Villegas, the director of the Latino Policy and Politics Institute (LPPI) at the University of California, Los Angeles. He participated in a presentation titled “Caring for the Changing Latino Family.” “Starting last year, there have been several changes. Most importantly, inflation, which had been rising rapidly and had impacted the budgets of the majority of Latino families, has slowed down a bit and has started to decline,” expressed the LPPI director.

In addition to the CHCI 2023 coverage, the Estudio DC team, led by Gerson Borrero, visited the office of Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez (D-NY 7), who has served in Congress for decades and is a prominent advocate for affordable housing, healthcare, and support for small businesses. Velázquez explained that the upcoming year would bring presidential elections where every vote would be crucial: “2024 will be a battle for the youth vote, a battle for the minority vote,” stated the congresswoman.

A special highlight of this series is the exclusive conversation with Vice President of the United States, Kamala Harris. During this discussion, the vice president shared her vision regarding the importance of Latino representation in politics and addressed key issues affecting the Latino community, such as immigration, education, and equity.