Azteca America last week was honored by Cynopsis Media as the 2016 Social Good Award Winner for Awareness Campaign/Initiative in the Civic Empowerment category at the 3^rd Annual Cynopsis Social Good Awards. The network was recognized for its recent achievements in civic engagement, which focused on the 2016 presidential election.

“It is truly an honor to be recognized for the network’s tireless efforts to engage U.S. Hispanics in the 2016 election,” said Manuel Abud, President and CEO, Azteca America. “No other television network or station in the country, regardless of language, made a similar effort. We pride ourselves on our ability to build bridges and establish alliances across the industry, and we are driven by our commitment to serve the U.S. Hispanic community.”

Starting in 2015, Azteca began building a network of alliances with social organizations such as the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO), the Congressional Hispanic Leadership Institute (CHLI), the Central American Resource Center (CARECEN), Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA), Council of Mexican Federations in North America (COFEM), Voto Latino, Asian Americans Advancing Justice (AAAJ), the City of Los Angeles, the County of Los Angeles, Univision, Telemundo, Estrella TV, Entravision, and La Opinion.

Azteca took the lead to bring these organizations together to work with Azteca and its Spanish-language media competitors to implement the “¡Protegete, Ciudadania Ya!” (Protect yourself, citizenship now!) campaign, which launched a call to action aimed at legal residents to become U.S. citizens and then encouraged those same people to register to vote and participate in the 2016 election. After the deadline to apply for citizenship passed, the campaign shifted focus to embolden U.S. Hispanic citizens to register to vote and get to the polls on Election Day. The campaign was designed to be rolled out in Los Angeles first and then replicated nationally.

“Voting is one of our most important responsibilities. There is no election too big or too small, from City Council to the President of the United States, we need to participate in every election. Government affects our lives at every level, and it’s critical that we have the right people making decisions for us,” said Luis J. Echarte, Chairman, Azteca America.

Azteca America devoted four of its monthly “Solución Azteca,” community support events to civic participation. These are on-air “events” over the course of a single day during planned commercial breaks. The network was also instrumental in the execution of a citizenship event held in Los Angeles in April 2016 that generated 3,500 appointments for residents engaged in the process of becoming U.S. citizens and was attended by more than 10,000 people. In addition, 100% of the content of the 6:30 pm national newscast was dedicated to the topic in the five months leading up to the election. Azteca produced many PSAs and promotional products and messages to air in prime time and across other key dayparts.

The annual Cynopsis Social Good Awards honor media companies for their efforts to give back to the community through their professional platform. The awards highlight notable achievements across categories such as sustainability partnerships and PSA’s, diversity campaigns, environmental initiatives, and more.

Your Editor Applauds: Azteca puts its effort where its mouth is.

David Greene talks to U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce President Javier Palomarez, who was critical of President Trump during the election. Palomarez is now an informal adviserto the administration.

To listen to the interview, click here

DAVID GREENE, HOST: The president of the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce is a man named Javier Palomarez. He describes himself this way.

JAVIER PALOMAREZ: I’m the son of Mexican immigrants. I’m an English-as-a-second-language kid. I’m a former high school dropout. I was a migrant farm worker. I’m the poster child for the people they want out of this country.

GREENE: So you could understand why Palomarez was critical of Donald Trump’s immigration proposals. During the campaign, he called Trump a buffoon and said he was unfit to be president. Then, the morning after the election, Palomarez got a call.

PALOMAREZ: Five-thirty in the morning, a phone rings, and I - and it’s my private cell. I picked it up, and it was Michael Cohen.

GREENE: Oh, Trump’s lawyer.

PALOMAREZ: Yeah, yeah. We had a chat. And he said, you know, Javier, you’re a warrior, and warriors wage war.

GREENE: Yeah, team Trump seemed to forgive him for that clown comment. In fact, they offered him a position as an informal adviser. He is still running the chamber, representing Hispanic-owned businesses, while also advising the White House. I asked Palomarez whether he stands by that criticism of Trump.

Do you still think he’s a buffoon?

PALOMAREZ: You know, it’s really less about what I think. And it’s really less about whether my mind has changed - ’cause people keep asking me that. What has changed is the circumstances. This man is now the president of the United States of America. And as an American, you got to shoulder the burden. And I did not anticipate being called upon, but I was. And so I’m going to do everything I can to help.

GREENE: I have to say, you didn’t totally answer my question about whether you still think he’s a buffoon.

PALOMAREZ: (Laughter) You know, I think that there’s room for improvement. Certainly, the speech I saw a couple of evenings ago gave me hope. At the end of the day, I’m not going to agree with everything Donald Trump says and does. That’s just not going to happen. But I didn’t agree with everything President Obama said or did.

GREENE: Is there something in the president’s agenda that you can point to for me and say, that is really good for…

PALOMAREZ: Yeah.

GREENE: …Hispanic-owned businesses?

PALOMAREZ: Oh, yeah, absolutely. You look at people like Steven Mnuchin. You know, I sat down with Secretary Mnuchin…

GREENE: The treasury secretary, you’re talking about.

PALOMAREZ: Yeah, yeah, before he was voted upon. And it was very clear to me that Steven Mnuchin understood the challenges of American small business. We talked about the criticality of access to capital and credit. He understood that. He talked about lowering the corporate tax rate. You know, you see people like Rex Tillerson.

GREENE: Secretary of state, yeah.

PALOMAREZ: His understanding of the critical relationship between us and Mexico - I mean, every day in this relationship, $1.5 billion of bilateral trade on a daily basis - more than 585 billion on an annual basis - depend on Mexico. Rex Tillerson understands that having grown up in Texas and run Exxon. And having that kind of keen business understanding makes him that much better a choice to go out and create better relationships all over the world for our nation.

GREENE: I can’t help, as I listen to you, think about - you know, you talk about the benefits of foreign trade and Cabinet secretaries understanding that. But Donald Trump has been out telling the country that, you know, free and open trade can be really bad for the American worker.

I think about Mexico, you saying that Rex Tillerson appreciates that relationship. And Donald Trump got into a fight with Mexico’s president over who’s going to pay for a wall that led to the president of Mexico not coming to the United States. I mean, it’s - it sounds like you like some things you’re hearing from Cabinet secretaries. But do you like what you’re hearing from Donald Trump himself?

PALOMAREZ: Well, no. You know, some of the things I hear from the president is very concerning. But therein lies, I think, the challenge and the opportunity. He has illustrated to me and my association that he can put together a really great team. The question now is, will he allow this top-notch team to deliver?

GREENE: What would you tell a Hispanic business owner who says, look, you called out this person, Donald Trump, as a candidate for his immigration policies, for building the wall. What if this person says - I don’t want to work with this guy; I don’t want you to work with this president - what are you doing?

PALOMAREZ: You know, again, we’ve got to deal with the reality that the American people have spoken. Some 30 percent of the Hispanic electorate actually voted for Donald Trump. They voted for him, I think, because they were hearing things from him that they weren’t hearing from Secretary Clinton. The encouraging part of this is that as we have been talking to this team - a great example is DACA.

GREENE: Yeah, we should remind people that this is the law from under President Obama that allowed the children of people who are undocumented…

PALOMAREZ: Correct.

GREENE: …To stay in the United States.

PALOMAREZ: Correct, correct.

GREENE: Yeah.

PALOMAREZ: And we saw a softening first, and now he’s declared that he’s going to leave the kids alone. And to me, that is a huge step forward. That illustrates that they are willing to listen. Is it going exactly the way I would like personally? No, absolutely not. But they haven’t slammed the door closed on me yet.

You know, I’m reminded often these days of the challenges that Dr. Martin Luther King had when he was sitting down with LBJ. I won’t use the word, but it begins with an N, and it rhymes with bigger. That was a term that LBJ actually used. Imagine the elegance of Martin Luther King to swallow his pride and stay resolute, stay focused on moving forward. Ultimately, it was Dr. King who won out. His challenge was a million times bigger than mine. And if he could do it, I’ve got to be able to at least try to do my part.

GREENE: Javier Palomarez is the president and CEO of the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

Thanks so much for coming in. We appreciate it.

Your Editor Muses: Well, we have been writing about the benefits of participation, even engagement.

By Lee Vann, CapturaGroup co-chair

This week I was honored to be named to the board of AHAA, the Association of Hispanic Advertising Agencies. Having co-founded a Hispanic Advertising Agency over 15 years ago, the opportunity to serve on AHAA’s board is a huge aha moment in my Hispanic marketing career.

This opportunity enables me to give back to a market and industry that has given me and our agency so much. Founded 20 years ago, AHAA has an impressive 45,000 members and strives to “bring Hispanic inspiration and innovation to every marketer in the U.S.” I am inspired by this mission and look forward to advancing it with my fellow AHAA board members across several key areas.

Evangelize the Hispanic Market

The Hispanic market has come a long way, but we still have work to do. Fortunately, the majority of conversations with marketers have shifted from “you should be marketing to Hispanics” to “how to best market to Hispanics” – but there are still plenty of marketers out there who need convincing. Across industries, the data is clear: For brands to grow, they must win with Hispanics, and I look forward to continuing to tell this story with AHAA to anyone who will listen.

Advance Hispanic Marketing Best Practices

Now that most marketers are focused on how to market to Hispanics, the hard work has actually begun. Over the years we have seen different Hispanic marketing models, from a siloed approach where Hispanic marketing was independent from general market advertising, to Total Market where all marketing, regardless of target, is integrated into one cohesive initiative. Needless to say, there are many ways to execute successful Hispanic marketing programs, but successful programs have the following things in common:

• Executive buy-in and long-term commitment
• A clear identification of the opportunity, commensurate investment levels and corresponding KPI’s
• An intimate understanding of the consumer(s), grounded in sound insights
• Creative that connects with the consumer across the right channels
• A methodology and commitment to continuously measure KPI’s and ROI

Over the years Hispanic marketers have increasingly been given a seat at the corporate marketing table. Now it’s time to use those seats to educate clients on how to do Hispanic marketing right and to show how Hispanic marketing can drive real growth and ROI.

Inspire and Educate the Future Generation of Hispanic Marketers

Great Hispanic marketing requires great Hispanic marketing professionals, period. Smart companies and agencies will make hiring and training executives and marketing professionals who understand Hispanic marketing a priority. We need to move to a place where the next generation wants to learn Hispanic marketing, a place where Hispanic marketing knowledge is a desired skillset that is compensated appropriately. As an industry, we need to ensure that the next generation understands the professional opportunity represented by Hispanic marketing, is inspired by Hispanic marketing, and has the tools and resources to become successful Hispanic marketing professionals. AHAA is an ideal platform for this and I look forward to helping inspire and educate the future generation of Hispanic marketers.

As I begin my journey as an AHAA board member, I look forward to working with our clients, employees, partners, and other AHAA members to create many more aha moment

Who Is He?

Combining his passion for the Internet and the Hispanic market, Lee Vann co-founded Hispanic Digital Agency, Captura Group in 2001 with a vision for helping brands and organizations connect with Hispanics through digital channels. Lee Vann is a recognized leader in the area of Hispanic digital strategy, bringing forth Hispanic + Digital innovation to Captura Group’s clients. Lee has led the agency on the cutting edge of Hispanic digital strategy for over 15 years and is responsible for the Strategy and Insights teams at Captura Group, working external stakeholders to develop holistic digital strategies that accomplish business objectives and deliver consumer value.

Lee has played a critical role in creating and shaping the Hispanic online marketing industry. He is a contributor to Media Post’s Engage Hispanics blog, wrote the chapter on Hispanic digital marketing in M. Isabel Valdés newest book, Win! The Hispanic Market and is a sought-after speaker at Hispanic and digital marketing conferences. He was named a Hispanic Interactive Advertising Pioneer by the Interactive Advertising Bureau.

Prior to founding Captura Group, Lee launched and served as VP of L90 Latino, the Hispanic division of the publicly traded Internet advertising company L90. Earlier in his career, Lee was Country Manager for Quidel Corporation, a US-based medical diagnostics company, in Madrid, Spain.

Lee holds a B.A. in Economics from the University of California Berkeley and a M.B.A. from the University of Southern California with a concentration E-Commerce. Born in Mexico City, Mexico, Lee is bilingual and bicultural

Your Editor Applauds AHAA and Lee Vann: Yes, Participation. Here, There, EveryWhere

By Raul A. Reyes

A former Donald Trump critic has gone from adversary to adviser. Javier Palomarez, president and CEO of the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (USHCC), has signed on as a member of President-elect Trump’s national diversity coalition.

“Our association is going to respect the process and respect the will of the people. We’re going to do everything we can to help the new administration move this country forward,” Palomarez told BuzzFeed News. “I’m very enthused and encouraged by the progress thus far.”

As a headline in Latina magazine put it, reporting on this development: Que?!

Throughout the 2016 presidential campaign, Palomarez rightfully called out Trump’s anti-Latino, anti-immigrant rhetoric. He criticized the president-elect in unusually personal terms. Nothing we’ve seen in the meantime indicates that Trump has changed, yet Palomarez is surrendering his dignity and signing on with him.

The USHCC describes itself as “America’s largest Hispanic business organization,” representing over 4.2 million Hispanic-owned businesses.

As head of the USHCC, Palomarez made it clear how he felt about Trump.

In September, he told two MSNBC hosts that Trump was a “payaso, a complete clown” and that his “movement of hatred” wouldn’t solve any real problems.

When the USHCC made its first-ever presidential endorsement for Democratic nominee Clinton, Palomarez told Reuters that Trump was “dangerous” and “a buffoon.” He noted that Trump’s campaign had “devolved into something that is frankly scary.” He called Trump’s deportation plan “the argument of a child and fear-mongering at its worst.”

That was then. Now Palomarez is apparently eager to work with Trump and members of his team like white nationalist champion Steve Bannon.

Mr. Trump is one of the many things that the liberal mainstream media tried to label him as — that he is anti-Hispanic.”

But it was not the liberal mainstream media that forced Trump to label Mexican immigrants “criminals, drug dealers, rapists” or to defame a distinguished federal judge because of his Mexican-American heritage. Of all people, Palomarez knows this — he has spoken out against Trump’s hate speech in the past — which is why his joining Trump’s coalition is so disappointing.

Palomarez’s new alignment with Trump is also unfortunate given Trump’s well-documented history of not paying small-business owners who worked for him.

Is there a place for Latinos in a Trump administration? Absolutely. A Latino Cabinet member could give 55 million Hispanics, literally, a voice at the table when critical national decisions are made. Palomarez would have been an outstanding choice to head the Small Business Administration, a spot that went to World Wrestling Entertainment co-founder Linda McMahon.

Being part of a diversity coalition, in contrast, means that Palomarez will likely serve as window-dressing, designed to give Trump cover from charges of racism and bigotry. And how much impact will a “diversity coalition” have, anyway, in an administration that does not value diversity?

Now more than ever, Latinos are taking stock of who our allies are, and Palomarez seems to be putting his personal ambition above all else.

That’s a shame, because Palomarez has been a thoughtful advocate for Latinos in general and Latino small-business owners in particular. Since taking over the USHCC, he helped turn the organization around.

While he has stated that he still disagrees with Trump on key issues, his opinions will probably be muted now that he is linked to the administration. Like most Trump associates and advisers, Palomarez can look forward to a future of explaining, clarifying and walking back The Donald’s indiscreet, erratic comments.

What a sad waste of Palomarez’s expertise, experience and abilities.

Palomarez’s decision appears at best misguided and at worst opportunistic. His joining the Donald Trump diversity coalition means the loss of an influential, once-credible voice for the Latino community.

Raul A. Reyes is an attorney and columnist in New York City. He is also an NBCNews.com contributor.

Your Editor Predicts: Javier Palomarez is on tria. Many Latinos will be listening.