Rosa V. Alonso: My Latino Voice

Many thanks to Rosa, who served as the moderator for “Best Practices on Building a Corporate Facebook Fan Page for U.S. Hispanics,” the first of the Social Media Insights Webinar Series.

NAME: Rosa Alonzo, Founder & CEO
COMPANY: MyLatinoVoice.com & WikiLatino.com
CONTACT:

MyLatinoVoice.com is the fastest growing online destination for U.S. Latino culture, entertainment, news and information, our “stories” and social community, all in our online language of choice, English. We offer popular culture and news with a “Latino” twist and from our perspective. Thus our tagline: “The American Experience. The Latino Point of View.”

My Latino Voice is the place to connect with Latino culture in three ways with one site: top-notch online magazine/editorial website, an active social community and WikiLatino, the world’s first and only encyclopedia of all things Latino.

My Latino voice is an affirmation of the power of two cultures – American and Latino — and the influences that have converged to create the current U.S. Latino culture. The company and sites are 100% Latina-owned and operated with a deep-rooted commitment to building a space for Latino users to meet, share and be published. As a site truly by and for the audience, My Latino Voice features and promotes the audience, the true “voices” of the site and of our generation.

About Rosa

Rosa Alonso is the founder and CEO of My Latino Voice parent company, Mi Apogeo Inc., and the only Latina owner of an online media corporation.

Alonso launched MiApogeo.com in 2008 to provide a new online community and collaborative online magazine that fills a void in the marketplace for online media options targeting U.S.-raised, second- and third-generation Latinos. Relaunched as MyLatinoVoice.com in 2009, the English-language site features lifestyle and entertainment channels, with fresh and culturally relevant content written by both users and site staff; an online community that connects trendsetters and influencers; and “WikiLatino®,” the first ever wiki dedicated exclusively to Latino culture and history.

Alonso is a leading Latina entrepreneur and innovator in marketing, media and internet industries. She was named “Woman of the Week” by AlPunto.com and has been extensively featured as a marketing segment expert in the media, including CNN, CNN En Español, Telemundo and American Latino TV. She was most recently a panelist on Lifestreaming and Social Media Marketing at Harvard Business School’s Cyberposium: 15, and in May, was a speaker at the first Hispanic PR and Social Media Conference, held in Dallas in May, 2010. She also served on the Conference’s Advisory Board and has been named to once again serve on the Board for the 2011 Conference. Alonso will be a speaker at the CEO Summit, the launch event of New York City’s first Latin Media and Entertainment Week in October 2010.

Alonso is an accomplished executive who has dedicated much of her 20+ year career to launching and directing integrated multicultural and International initiatives for Fortune 100 companies as well start-up media ventures. She is a pioneer in multicultural/segment marketing, particularly in the Hispanic consumer and media space, and is recognized for her success in delivering customers and profitability by creating and directing best-in-class multi-platform initiatives in the retail, wireless and media – including online, television, and publishing – industries.

Alonso was most recently Senior Vice President of Edelman Multicultural, Edelman’s award-winning multicultural marketing practice, where she led a multi-million dollar operation that specialized in marketing to the Hispanic, African American and Youth/Urban segment markets as well as collaborating with international efforts at the local market level.
She was also the Vice President of Sales and Marketing, and an equity partner, in Latino.com, the first website to acknowledge the acculturated Hispanic user and to pioneer content in English and Spanish, and Group Publisher of PODER and LOFT magazines, where she directed the sales, marketing and online efforts of two emerging properties that served the Latino c-level business executive and the young, bicultural segment in the U.S. and Latin America.

Prior to PODER/LOFT, she was Senior Director of International and Multicultural Marketing at AT&T Wireless, where she led teams responsible for all phases of strategic planning, marketing (online and offline) and local market/retail initiatives for Multicultural (Hispanic, African American and Asian American) as well as international programs. Her international efforts also served the general consumer and B2B segments.

Her other key leadership positions include her roles as National New Business Development & Marketing Executive, Univision Television Networks; Director of Sales, People en Español Magazine; and Marketing Director, National Retail Center, Dreyfus Services Corp. and Regional Manager, Financial Retail Centers, Fidelity Investments. She has also held key positions in marketing, operations and retail with Citibank Europe and North America Cards and the Bankers Trust Company.

Ms. Alonso received her B.A. from Barnard College, Columbia University and her MBA from Columbia Business School. She serves as Trustee/Director on the boards of Barnard College, The Jewish Home and Hospital Lifecare System, and the Hispanic Advisory Board of Laureate International Universities; sits on the Wharton Executive Advisory Panel; and has served on the boards of Our Pledge USA and Jovus Inc. She is a member of numerous marketing and advertising organizations, including the American Marketing Association, the Association of Hispanic Advertising Agencies (AHAA) and New York Women in Communications. In addition to membership, she has participated on the Multicultural committees of several organizations, including the Association of National Advertisers and the Advertising Club of New York. She has also been a member of community leadership and empowerment organizations, such as The Marathon Club and the New America Alliance.