History
Twelve years have passed since a group of visionary leaders got together in Omaha after attending a leadership conference in Chicago and decided that here in Omaha we also deserved to have such opportunities. Among those involved with the planning of the first event were Maria Valentin, Aura Whitney Jackson, Maria Vazquez, Eva Serenil, and Leticia Barajas. They started with several good ideas about how they wanted the first LatinoLeadership Conference to be, but with no money or support to get it done. That was no obstacle to them! They were able to raise some funds from a few companies and the word was out that there would be a leadership conference for Latinos. The initial expectation was to have about 100 people attending. Well, they had more than 200 attendees!! That was a surprise but it was also a sign that our community was ready for events like this, and yes, we have continued growing every year since then.
The Heartland Latino Leadership Conference now gathers more than 600 participants from all across Nebraska, Kansas, and Iowa. The caliber of the conference program, keynote presentations and workshop sessions make the Heartland Latino Leadership Conference an event we all should be proud to have in our community!