The Rumi Forum presented "The U.S. Hispanic community at the crossroads: Challenges and Opportunities?" with Octavio Hinojosa Mier

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Synopsis: Today, Americans of Hispanic descent are the second largest demographic group in the United States of America. Their demographic and economic growth will play an increasing role in the conceptualization and implementation of both U.S domestic and foreign policy in the 21st Century. U.S. Hispanics are as diverse as the general American population. How can this diversity be leveraged to overcome current challenges facing the United States such as, for example, the current national conversation on comprehensive immigration reform? What role can Hispanics also play fostering greater intercultural and interreligious dialogue both domestically and abroad?

Octavio A. Hinojosa Mier is Executive Director of the Congressional Hispanic Leadership Institute (CHLI), a nonprofit and non-partisan organization dedicated to promoting the positive advancement of the diverse US Hispanic community in the public, private, and non-profit sectors, as well as in the international community. He began directing the organization at its inception in 2004.
Previously, Octavio served as the inaugural Executive Director of the Congressional Hispanic Conference (CHC), a Congressional member organization.
In addition, Octavio has served in a variety of positions at the U.S. Department of State. From 1996 to 2001, he was assigned to the Bureau of Diplomatic Security where he served as a Security Analyst for U.S. embassies and consulates in the Western Hemisphere, Europe and Africa.

Moderator:

Viviana Hurtado is a Washington, DC based correspondent for ABC NewsOne, the network’s affiliate news service. NewsOne provides live and packaged news reports for 180 ABC affiliates around the country, as well as more than 30 domestic and international clients.
Since joining ABC News in March 2008, Hurtado has reported extensively on the historic presidential race, the Obama White House and the global economic crisis. She also covered the 2008 Midwestern floods and the devastation of Hurricane Ike in Texas. Additionally, she covered Pope Benedict XVI's inaugural visit to the U.S. in the spring of 2008. Prior to joining ABC News, she was the North America correspondent for Al Jazeera English, the first English language 24-hour network headquartered in the Middle East. Hurtado reported extensively from Latin America, covering the 2006 Mexican and Ecuadorian Presidential elections and President Bush's 2007 visit to Latin America. She reported from Washington, DC for Al Jazeera English's global audience, covering U.S. politics, the U.S. presidential race, and American foreign policy.