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NHMC Staff
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Elected President of the NHMC in the late nineties, Alex has tirelessly advocated for the Latino community. He led boycotts against the advertisers of the syndicated “Howard Stern” radio show as a means of getting Stern off the air when he offended the Latino community and the family of the late singing star, Selena Quintanilla-Perez, with his repugnant comments following the singer’s tragic murder. Under Nogales’ leadership, the NHMC has filed over fifty petitions to deny broadcast licenses with the Federal Communication Commission (FCC), including one against a Spanish-language radio company for encouraging its DJs to air pornographic radio programming to boost their ratings. Nogales also led high-profile demonstrations against ABC and its parent company, Disney, for its lack of diversity and apparent exclusion of American Latinos from local news reporters and anchor jobs, and intensified discussions with local TV stations across the country. As leader of one of the more visible organizations under the umbrella of the National Latino Media Council (NLMC), for which NHMC acts as secretariat and staff, Alex was instrumental in the signing of Memoranda of Understanding with NBC, ABC, CBS and Fox in the year 2000. And when Latinos in both English and Spanish language television were undercounted by the A.C. Nielsen Research Company, Mr. Nogales led the NLMC fight to force Nielsen to address this shortfall. In his estimation, Nielsen’s undercount limited Latino employment opportunities in English-language television as well as discouraged the development of Latino-themed programming. Fox Television, Nogales’ ally in the fight, recently signed an agreement with Nielsen whereby Nielsen committed fifty million dollars to better train its field representatives to coach Nielsen households on how to correctly use their measuring equipment. Currently, Nogales is evaluating the diversity performance of the four major television networks, pushing for diversity initiatives, and challenging media entities that are demonizing the Latino immigrant community to boost their radio and television ratings. Indeed, in the past few years the NHMC has emerged as a leader in the fight against hate speech in media. On the heels of the 2006 immigration debate – and the often violent and inaccurate anti-Latino rhetoric associated therewith – the FBI documented a 40% increase in hate crimes against Latinos. Not only has the NHMC called on the government to examine the link between hate speech and hate crimes and to bring light to this serious problem, it has also commissioned the UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center to study the issue in the absence of government action. At the same time, Mr. Nogales has met with top cable and broadcast television executives, urging them to ensure fairness and accuracy in their stories that touch on the Latino community. In one such meeting, in late 2009, Alex met with CNN President Jon Klein and urged him to hold Lou Dobbs accountable as a credible journalist or to fire him. Not a week later, Dobbs resigned from CNN. In addition to the NHMC’s work on hate speech, under Alex’s leadership the organization has increasingly engaged on media and telecommunications policies that impact the Latino community. NHMC has an office in Washington, D.C., and serves as the voice of the Latino community on such issues as diversifying media ownership, broadband deployment and adoption, network neutrality, and many other issues that affect how Latinos communicate and are perceived in mainstream media.
Inez González joined the NHMC team in 2005 as the Media Policy Director to manage the newly created media policy program. Inez developed NHMC's media policy priorities and established strong national, statewide and local alliances with other groups concerned with media and telecom policy issues. In 2008, Inez was promoted to Vice President of Media Policy and moved to the East Coast to open NHMC's office in Washington, D.C. where she helped establish a greater national presence for NHMC. After two years in the Beltway, Inez was promoted to Executive Vice President and moved back to California. Previous to joining NHMC, Inez was the District Director for Congressman Bob Filner (D-51) overseeing the management and operations of two district offices that served over 650,000 constituents. Inez’ professional experience includes tenures as Public Relations & Communications Manager for a California Health Management Organization; and Contract Compliance Officer for the public transportation agency in San Diego, CA where she managed Equal Opportunity Programs for the agency. Inez is a fellow of Hispanas Organized for Political Equality (HOPE) Leadership Training Institute, the Women’s Policy Institute a program of the California’s Women Foundation and the National Hispana Leadership Institute (NHLI). She is a Board Member of the Center for New Community (CNC), a national organization committed to building community, justice, and equality. Inez has a Bachelor’s in Computer Science from the University of San Diego and a Master’s in Organizational Management from the University of Phoenix and a Masters in Public Administration from the Harvard Kennedy School.
Jessica executes NHMC’s national priorities before the federal agencies and in Congress. She leads NHMC's legal and policy work and has developed it's legal internship program. In her role as Vice President of Policy and Legal Affairs, Jessica has testified before the Federal Communications Commission, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, and in Congress, and has been interviewed on television and radio. Additionally, she played an instrumental role in drafting the historic Memorandum of Understanding between Comcast Corporation and the Hispanic Leadership Organizations. Before joining NHMC, Jessica was a staff attorney and clinical teaching fellow at Georgetown Law’s renowned Institute for Public Representation (IPR), where NHMC was one of her clients. At IPR Jessica also represented other consumer, civil rights and public interest organizations before the Federal Communications Commission, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration and in the Courts of Appeal. While in law school, Jessica clerked at the Media Access Project in Washington, DC, and prior to law school she was a public high school teacher in Los Angeles, California. Jessica is a LLM degree candidate at Georgetown Law. She earned her JD at Southwestern Law School, where she worked on the Journal of Law and Trade in the Americas and the Journal of International Media and Entertainment Law, and her BA in Communication Studies and Spanish from Loyola Marymount University. She is licensed to practice law in California and the District of Columbia. Jessica is Secretary of the Board of Directors for the Media and Democracy Coalition.
Rosalia Tenorio Rosalia Tenorio is NHMC’s Director of Communications. Rosalia directs the communications strategy to increase NHMC’s visibility. She is responsible for the marketing communications efforts, such as, ongoing media relations, social media strategies, branding awareness, advertising, and events. A seasoned professional with expertise in journalism, public relations, marketing, and fundraising, Rosalia has worked with and provided services for several large corporations as well as renowned non-profit organizations including Catholic.net, Marketwire, FOX Latin America, Globo TV Network, Ronald McDonald House Charities, and Petrobras. Rosalia holds a BA in journalism, and is finishing her Master’s Degree in Telecommunications Critical Studies at California State University of Los Angeles. Brazilian born, Rosalia is fluent in Portuguese, Spanish, and English.
Brenda Rivas is a graduate from the University of Southern California where she obtained her BA in Cinematic Arts with an emphasis in Critical Studies and a minor in Spanish. She began working at NHMC in June 2010 as the Executive Assistant to Alex Nogales. As NHMC's Director of Operations, she manages the day-to-day activities of the organization to include billing, human resources, scheduling for Alex Nogales, and assists with grant writing. Previous to working at NHMC, Brenda worked at Management 360 where she was part of the Manager-Mailroom Trainee Program. She has also interned at Identity Films and Mandate Pictures in Beverly Hills. While in film school, Brenda was a Special Projects Coordinator at USC El Centro Chicano and was part of the Latino Floor Residential Program.
Nilda Muhr Nilda Muhr joined the NHMC team in June 2011 as the Programs and Outreach Coordinator. Her duties at NHMC include coordinating the prestigious NLMC Writer’s Program, along with NHMC’s education and community outreach efforts. In addition, Nilda organizes NHMC’s major fundraising events such as the Impact Awards Gala and Local Impact Awards Luncheon. Nilda is a graduate of the University of San Diego where she obtained her BA in Sociology and double majored in Spanish. While in college she was involved in the America Reads Program as a student tutor, was a founding core member of the Romero Center for Faith in Action at USD, and conducted her senior research project on a cultural exchange program with the San Diego Mixtec community. Her previous work experience includes interning at the National Family Justice Center and working for Orange County Head Start Inc. as a Family Advocate. Nilda enjoys volunteering her time starting an organization for Latinas in Los Angeles, reading books and dancing flamenco.
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Alex Nogales
Inez Gonzalez
Jessica Gonzalez
Michael Scurato