In Your Community | UnidosUS

UnidosUS 2025 Changemakers Summit & Capital Awards 

UnidosUS’s 2025 Changemakers Summit brought together passionate advocates from our nationwide Affiliate Network, offering a welcoming space for attendees to connect, share innovative ideas, learn from one another and hear from UnidosUS policy experts and leaders. We welcomed 250 changemakers from 25 states to Washington, DC, where they were trained to advance their community’s agenda by working with Congress and policymakers.  

Some of the key Summit sessions included:

• Building Our Power: Strength in Unity, dove into the current political landscape, UnidosUS’s policy agenda, and how Latino organizations can collaborate to safeguard the rights and dignity of our communities and advance opportunity. 

• The Long Game: Advancing the Latino Economic Agenda, presented UnidosUS’s approach to tackling economic disparities and promoting prosperity for Latinos and working-class communities.  

• What do the Executive Orders and Actions Mean?  UnidosUS policy experts discussed some of the new administration’s most impact executive orders and their signficance for our collective work.  

Special sessions designed to empower youth changemakers were presented by our partner CHCI (Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute), including Developing a Growth Mindset for Leadership Success and Policy 101: Navigating Leadership Through Action. 

We continued UnidosUS‘s longstanding tradition of honoring bipartisan leaders who advance initiatives aligned with our priories at the UnidosUS Capital Awards. UnidosUS recognized Representatives Veronica Escobar (D-TX, 16th District) and María Elvira Salazar (R-FL 27th District) for their efforts in promoting the Dignity Act, a bipartisan approach to immigration reform. We also presented the Public Service Award to the National Skills Coalition, reinforcing our commitment to workforce development and career pathways.  

During the President’s message at the Capital Awards, UnidosUS President and CEO Janet Murguía noted, “This is not the first time our nation has been divided, and it’s not the first time our community has been threatened. But this feels different … We need to understand what is really going on and ensure that our community is treated humanely and with dignity and respect. We must also work hard to ensure that the efforts to erase the lines of inclusion do not, in fact, rebuild the walls of exclusion … For our nation to function and flourish, we need each other.” 

For more information and to watch Janet’s full remarks click here.