Prominent Latino leader appointed as President of a cultural organization in Houston
Carlos Duarte, former Texas director and national executive of Mi Familia Vota, is appointed as the inaugural President of ALMAAHH, activating a rising Houston Latino movement for equity and representation in the arts and culture field.
Houston, TX, December 12, 2023— ALMAAHH, a Latino arts and culture nonprofit in Houston, announces the appointment of Carlos Duarte as its inaugural President, who is a prominent trailblazer among a new generation of Hispanic leaders in the region. Duarte is in charge of creating an arts complex and museum in Houston that will showcase, preserve, and expand Latino arts amidst a growing movement of Latinos working towards proportional representation and recognition of their contributions.
Duarte joins ALMAAHH after serving as the nationwide chief development officer and, previously, Texas state director of Mi Familia Vota, a leading national nonpartisan Latino civic engagement organization. In addition to expanding MFV to many cities, he led campaigns and mobilizations to improve Latinos’ conditions in healthcare, education, immigration, environmental justice, and workers’ rights. He established the MFV Development Department and a funding strategy that quadrupled the organization’s average annual budget. “Having Carlos as our inaugural president gives our board and constituents confidence that his understanding of Latino culture and engagement experience will be strong assets to advance ALMAAHH’s mission,” said Geraldina Interiano Wise, ALMAAHH board chair. “Carlos is a forward-thinking leader with an exceptional record of mobilizing communities and stakeholders. He is a social innovator who shares our vision that supporting and highlighting Latino arts and culture can inspire, educate, and empower our communities.”
Duarte said, “I am thrilled to work with ALMAAHH and advance its vision that Latinos must play a vital role in shaping the cultural character of a city where they are almost half the population.”
“ALMAAHH is well poised to become the best vehicle for building community by
systematically creating collective experiences that inspire unity, awareness, creativity, and social ingenuity,” said Duarte. “The arts, from visuals to music or theater, have been a force of human enrichment and change throughout history, and ALMAAHH understands that Latinos have an unmatched wealth of international cultural heritage to inspire creativity and change.”
Interiano Wise says that ALMAAHH is embarking with Duarte on a community expansion
chapter that involves movement-building and fundraising efforts at regional and national levels. “This will lay the foundation to build the cultural complex. We will make Houston a global Latino arts and culture hub that boosts tourism, culture, and the economy,” she said.
Duarte is a Latino of Mexican origin with over 30 years of experience in the nonprofit sector. He is a holistic strategist and organizer with deep roots in the Latino community. He is a Ph.D. candidate in social and cultural anthropology at Arizona State University. He holds a master’s degree in social and industrial psychology and a bachelor’s in philosophy. “I am truly excited to have Carlos as our inaugural President, bringing his nonprofit experience not just with local networks but nationwide as well,” said Gracie Saenz, an ALMAAHH board director and former Houston city council member and mayor pro-term. “We look forward to him being fully embraced by our supporters, the community, and the city’s leadership.”
“ALMAAHH is part of a rising Latino movement empowering communities to assert their value and abundance of contributions to the American fabric at all levels of society. It involves achieving more equitable representation and investment of resources to reflect the size and richness of the largest population in Houston,” said Duarte.
“We want to unleash the creativity, diversity, and vast cultural capital of our community. With our international heritage and skills, we have the power to raise Houston as a global Latino arts and culture hub. Join our movement.”
Duarte invites Latinos and other communities to embrace, spread, and follow #ALMAAHH on social media. Follow @almaahhTX on Facebook and Instagram to keep up with news, projects, and opportunities. Check out #ALMAAHHCommons posts to share your tips and ideas on periodic questions to find solutions to common interests.
Media contact: Gabriela Magana: gmagana@almaahh.org, (714) 342-9305.
Olivia P. Tallet: media@almaahh.org, (832) 517-8744.
About ALMAAHH: Advocates of a Latino Museum of Cultural and Visual Arts & Archive
Complex in Houston, Harris County, is an organization dedicated to creating a first-rate museum complex that will support, showcase, preserve, and expand Latino arts and culture. It aims to ensure equitable and authentic representation and elevate Houston as a national hub of Latino culture that drives cultural and economic prosperity for all. ALMAAHH has organized numerous public-serving events. In 2023, it presented the juried exhibition “We are Houston” with over 30 Latino visual artists at the POST, and partnered with the Museum of Fine Arts Houston for the Dream with Alebrijes festival, The organization is conducting a bilingual, online Latino survey (almaahh.org/voice-survey) that will help shape the plan for the complex, as well as community visioning sessions to incorporate Latino’s views, aspirations, and needs regarding arts and culture and the mission of ALMMAAH.
About Carlos Duarte: Please see his biography and media assets here.
HOW TO PARTICIPATE
• Stay informed: On Instagram and Facebook at @almaahhtx and the website
almaahh.org. Follow #ALMAAHH hashtag.
• Be a partner: Join the growing number of ALMAAHH partners for common benefits.
Contact museum@almaahh.org.
• Take the survey: Take the Latino survey to help shape a new Latino museum and
cultural complex at almaahh.org/voice-survey.
• Your ideas: Check out #ALMAAHHCommons posts to share your tips and ideas on periodic questions.