Maria Teresa Kumar

Emmy-nominated MSNBC contributor María Teresa Kumar is the founding President and CEO of Voto Latino. Since 2004, Kumar has raised more than $75 million to grow Voto Latino into the U.S.’s largest Latinx voter registration and advocacy organization, directly registering more than 601,330 new voters leading into a 2020 election with 32 million eligible Latino voters up for grabs. In June 2020 alone, Kumar’s Voto Latino registered more than 100,000 voters.

With advertisers spending nearly $10 billion to reach the nation’s 60 million Hispanic consumers, whose median age is just 29.5 compared to 40.6 for non-Hispanics, Kumar’s pioneering use of technology, social media and celebrity to inspire transformative change in younger audiences led Fast Company to name her one of the most creative minds in global business and Elle to name her one of the 10 most influential women in Washington.

For building Voto Latino into a national election market mover, Campaigns and Elections named her an influencer to watch in shaping mid-term elections, Latino Leaders named her one of 2020’s 100 Most Influential Latinas, Hispanic Business named her one of the 100 most influential Latinos in America, the Hispanic Executive recognized her as one of its Top 10 Líderes and The Hispanic Heritage Foundation granted her its prestigious Leadership Award.

Winner of The Women’s Media Center’s Emerging Journalist Award, Kumar has made 400 appearances since 2011 on MSNBC alone.