Lori Montenegro, the head of Noticias Telemundo’s Washington, D.C. bureau, is one of the most influential and experienced journalists in Spanish-language television with more than 40 years in the media industry.

Prior to her role, she was a correspondent in the U.S. capital for Noticias Telemundo, a position she held since 2006. An empowering journalist, throughout the years Montenegro has been on the front line covering the issues that are most important to Latinos, and her most notable career interviews includes a sit-down with former U.S. President Barack Obama in 2013. In addition, Montenegro collaborates with other NBCUniversal news organizations, including NBC News and MSNBC.

Before joining Noticias Telemundo, Montenegro spent three years at Univisión as the Washington correspondent for 25 of its affiliates. Between 1991 and 1993, she served as Foreign Policy Correspondent for the U.S. Information Agency (USIA). Montenegro was named one of 100 outstanding Hispanic journalists in the country in 2001 and 2002.  She also received the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute’s Latina Leader Award and the UnidosUS Rubén Salazar Award, among other accolades. She has received a Media Trailblazer Award presented by the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC). Most recently, she was honored by the Radio Television Digital News Association with the First Amendment Clarity Award, a recognition presented to a journalist who goes to extraordinary lengths to provide meaning and context to complicated news stories or issues of extreme public importance.

Resolution:

Whereas; Mrs. Lori Montenegro joined the National Association of Hispanic Journalists on March 21, 2002 and is a Lifetime member and an active member of the Washington D.C. Chapter,

Whereas; Mrs. Montenegro has advised our chapter, mentored our members, donated and hosted a chapter meeting at the Telemundo Network Capitol Hill Bureau in 2012,

Whereas; Mrs. Montenegro helped tremendously in preparing the national and local chapter in how to interact with staffers in the Obama, Trump and Biden administrations and securing Julio Vaqueiro to co-moderate the chapter’s White House panel discussion,

Whereas; Mrs. Montenegro moderated a plenary session with Democratic Presidential Candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton at the National Association of Hispanic Journalists and National Association of Black Journalists joint convention in Washington, D.C. on August 5, 2016.

Whereas, former NAHJ President Mekhalo Medina honored Mrs. Montenegro with the NAHJ Presidential Award of Visibility at the NAHJ-NABJ joint convention in 2016,

Whereas; Mrs. Montenegro shared her experience covering the Trump White House during the 2018 National Association of Hispanic Journalists convention in Miami.

Therefore be it resolved; the board of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists Washington, D.C. Chapter and it’s members-in-good-standing signed below, hereby nominate Lori Montenegro for the National Association of Hispanic Journalists Hall of Fame.

We the undersigned, being board members of the Washington, D.C. Chapter approved the resolution passed on Wednesday, April 19, 2023 during a membership meeting.

Brandon Benavides
President

Estefania Mitre
Secretary

Jason Zaragoza
At-Large Officer

Silvia Foster-Frau
Vice-President

Clara Dominguez
Treasurer

We the undersigned, being members in-good-standing signed below, approved the resolution.

Monica Alba
Rolando Arrieta
Priscilla Alvarez
Mauricio Casillas
Felix Contreras
Gloria Contreras
Pedro Cota
Jenny Cushman
Patricia Guadalupe
Fin Gomez
Susan Flores
Rafael Lorente
Maria Lucchini
Melissa Macaya
Ed O’Keefe
Joseph Olmo
Maria Pena
Yamila Pino
Sulema Salazar
Rafael Suarez
Cristobal Vasquez
Lucio Villa

Membership Meeting

Wednesday, April 19 at 7 PM 
Via Zoom: Email nahjdc@gmail.com for link.

Agenda

Welcome

Secretary Report

Treasurer Report

Old Business:

Job Fair

Pen & Pad Briefing with Energy Secretary

White House Briefing

News Business

Chapter Elections

Pen & Pad Briefing with Congressman Pete Aguilar

Tour NASA Goddard

An evening with the Mexican Ambassador to U.S.

Resolution to nominate Lori Montenegro to NAHJ Hall of Fame

Whereas; Lori Montenegro joined the National Association of Hispanic Journalists on March 21, 2002 and is an active member of the Washington, D.C. Chapter,

Whereas; Lori Montenegro hosted a NAHJ Washington, D.C. Chapter meeting at the Telemundo Network Capitol Hill Bureau in 2012,

Whereas; Lori Montenegro has mentored, advised and donated money to help our chapter and members,

Whereas; Lori Montenegro moderated a plenary session with Democratic Presidential Candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton at the National Association of Hispanic Journalists convention in Washington, D.C. on August 5, 2016.

Whereas; Lori Montenegro shared her experience covering the Trump White House during the 2018 National Association of Hispanic Journalists convention in Miami.

Therefore be it resolved; the board of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists Washington, D.C. Chapter and it’s members-in-good-standing signed below, hereby nominate Lori Montenegro for the National Association of Hispanic Journalists Hall of Fame.

We the undersigned, being board members of the Washington, D.C. Chapter, approved the resolution passed on *** during a membership meeting.

We the undersigned, being members in-good-standing signed below, approved the resolution on ** ** ****.

Members of the Washington, D.C., chapter of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists participated Wednesday in a press briefing with several top Latinos in the Biden administration, including Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, White House Political Strategy and Outreach Director Emily Ruiz, and White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs Director Julie Chávez Rodríguez.

The wide-ranging discussion included remarks on asylum, immigration reform, the environmental impact of the train derailment in Palestine, Ohio, and COVID-19. On the pandemic that has disproportionately affected the nation’s communities of color including Latinos, Secretary Becerra spoke on how the Biden administration will continue to ensure accessibility to tests, treatments, and vaccines after the COVID emergency declaration is lifted in May.

“There isn’t a human being in this country that has paid a penny for that vaccine,” said Becerra, adding that the Biden administration will work with community health clinics to provide services to the uninsured and low-income communities.

NAHJ President Yvette Cabrera said the gathering was a unique opportunity that she hopes will happen more often.

“I’m so pleased that our members had this opportunity to question the Biden Administration’s top Latino officials on a wide range of issues, ranging from COVID-19 misinformation to immigration reform,” said Cabrera, who was one of several NAHJ members who came from other cities to attend the meeting. “This accessibility is foundational to the work we do as journalists to hold our government accountable to the American public. As Latino journalists, we bring a unique perspective to our coverage and that was reflected in the questions we asked during this press briefing.”

This was the NAHJ’s first White House briefing in nearly nine years. “During the Trump Administration, I requested a briefing with top Latino officials at the White House,” said D.C. Chapter President Brandon Benavides, a former NAHJ National President. “Despite promises from the director of communications at the time, no briefing was held with NAHJ. I’m satisfied the Biden administration granted our request and went above and beyond what we asked for,” Benavides said.

Our 9th Annual Noche de Periodistas will be a hybrid backyard happy
hour with an optional curbside pick-up. We are getting creative to
raise money for the chapter and follow the current pandemic rules in
the District.

NAHJ Hall of Famer Ray Suarez and his wife, Carole, will host our
chapter fundraiser at their home in the AU Park neighborhood of the
District.

We’ve lowered the price of tickets to $40 and students are free.

Get tickets here.

Please bring happy hour snacks such as individually packaged chips,
fruit, nuts, candy, etc. Do not bring anything that needs to be heated
up. We will be socially distancing in the backyard. Bring your mask.

Our fundraiser will be Saturday, August 8 from 4:00 PM – 6:00 PM.

We will have a virtual program for our members who wish to donate to
the chapter but cannot attend. The program will begin at 4:30 PM.

We will also have curbside pickup between 4:45 – at 5:00 PM. You can
come by and pick up your NAHJ DC Wine and Chapter Hand Sanitizer.

As you can read, we have a variety of options for you to participate
in this year’s chapter fundraiser. If you choose to join us in the
backyard, capacity will be limited to 45 people. Virtual and Curbside
pickup is unlimited.

We look forward to seeing you in person or virtually at our
fundraiser. As always, thank you for your support.

The NAHJ DC Chapter is offering convention assistance to paid members who need a little financial help. The chapter will pay for one professional early-bird registration fee valued at $190 and one student fee valued at $90.

NABJ-NAHJ Virtual Convention & Career Fair will be held August 5-8, 2020.

Write a one page essay describing your situation and what you hope to gain from the convention (i.e., training, job hunting, networking, etc..). Include your name and contact information. Email your submission to nahjdc@gmail.com.

You must be a paid member of NAHJ and registered NAHJ DC Chapter member to qualify. The deadline to apply is Friday, July 17, 2020.

Members of the NAHJ Washington, D.C. Chapter unanimously passed an emergency resolution (posted below) within a 24 hour period.

 

National Association of Hispanic Journalists
Washington, D.C. Chapter Membership Resolution

WHEREAS the Trump administration declared a public health emergency on January 31, 2020 in response to the Global Coronavirus Pandemic;
WHEREAS the Mayor of Washington, D.C., Muriel Bowser, declared both a state of emergency and public health emergency on March 11, 2020, closing schools and non-essential businesses;
WHEREAS the National Association of Hispanic Journalists and the National Association of Black Journalists announced on April 24, 2020 that the joint
NAHJ- NABJ conference will move from an in-person conference in Washington, D.C. to a virtual conference to be held August 5-9, 2020;
WHEREAS the board and staff of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists are busy concentrating their efforts on ensuring a successful virtual conference;
WHEREAS we, the members in-good-standing of the NAHJ Washington, D.C. Chapter, want to help facilitate the national and chapter elections as stated in the bylaws of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists;
WHEREAS we offer our members to serve on the national elections committee;
WHEREAS we want to hold our annual chapter elections as stated in the bylaws;

THEREFORE BE IT…
RESOLVED the NAHJ Washington, D.C. Chapter will hold chapter board elections 60 days prior to the virtual national conference as stated in the bylaws.
RESOLVED the NAHJ Washington, D.C. Chapter urges the national association to hold elections as stated in the bylaws and we offer to help facilitate the national board elections.

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The NAHJ Washington, D.C. Chapter has more than 300 members who live
and work in the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia. Our members
report for local, national, and international media companies.

We encourage all members to continue to pay their membership dues and to make sure that the DC Chapter is selected in your membership profile (update here).