María Teresa Kumar, the 2019 Austin College Posey Leadership Award recipient, delivered a charge to the campus community and area guests to participate in intersectional conversations about difficult topics. “This is our Democracy—love it, care for it, and tend to it,” she said. “It is time for all hands on deck.”
As the co-founder and CEO of Voto Latino, Kumar was selected for the Posey Award which recognizes outstanding individuals who represent the principles of servant leadership. Since 2004, Voto Latino has used social media, pop culture, and grassroots effort to engage Latino youth in their neighborhoods, communities, and the nation.
Kumar delivered a talk titled, “Moving Forward in an Inclusive America,” at a convocation in Wynne Chapel on March 27. She received the College’s Posey Leadership Award, which includes a $100,000 honorarium, on March 27 following a similar presentation at the Perot Museum in Dallas. During her brief stay in North Texas, she also met with nearly 500 Dallas-area high school students at Parish Episcopal Parish Episcopal School in an invitation-only event hosted by the Dallas World Affairs Council’s Global Young Leaders program. She also gave interviews on KERA and Univision 23, and met with Nicole Nieto of the National Hispanic Institute. At each opportunity she encouraged listeners, particularly young people, to participate in government.
Kumar was working in corporate America when September 11 changed the world. “That redefined me,” she said. “I decided to dedicate myself to the Latino community, especially young Latinos,” Kumar said. “By literally translating America for their families, they were leaders in their households long before they were adults.” But, in large part, she said, those people were not represented in government or their voice heard through the voting system. Kumar says that in 2018, Voto Latino’s work resulted in more than 202,000 voter registrations that, in turn, became the votes to change the landscape of U.S. government.
“Americans are coming together, bearing witness for our country,” she said, listing recent group activism surrounding Occupy Wall Street, climate change, Black Lives Matter, equality in marriage, and the Women’s March. She reminded listeners that marching and resisting are important, but the work is done in the voting booth.
Kumar said that many people see the U.S. in a bad place today, but encouraged that the current situation simply means it is time for people to roll up their sleeves and go to work. “When hasn’t this country written the rules?’ she asked. “Shame on us now for not thinking big enough. … Our country’s blueprint for democracy is the envy of the world. Don’t be distracted by the current divisiveness. I love this country, and it is worth fighting for.”
Kumar holds a master’s degree in public policy from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and a bachelor’s degree in international relations from the University of California at Davis. She is an Emmy-nominated journalist and regular contributor on MSNBC. More information on Kumar and Voto Latino can be found online.
Local sponsors for the 2019 Posey Leadership Award Convocation include Bank of Texas, Carleen and David Stone and family, and the Sherman Economic Development Corporation (SEDCO). Nominations are now open for the Austin College 2020 Posey Leadership Award.
Austin College, a private national liberal arts college located north of Dallas in Sherman, Texas, has earned a reputation for excellence in academic preparation, international study, pre-professional foundations, leadership development, committed faculty, and hands-on, adventurous learning opportunities. One of 40 schools profiled in Loren Pope’s influential book Colleges That Change Lives, Austin College boasts a welcoming community that embraces diversity and individuality, with 46 percent of students identifying as persons of color. The residential student body of approximately 1,300 students and more than 100 expert faculty members allow a 13:1 student-faculty ratio and personalized attention. Austin College is related by covenant to the Presbyterian Church (USA) and cultivates an inclusive atmosphere that supports students’ faith journeys regardless of religious tradition. Founded in 1849, the College is the oldest institution of higher education in Texas operating under original name and charter.