Wednesday, November 16, 2011

An online place for Latina moms


CafeMom Announces Founding Corporate Sponsors for Mamas Latinas, Its New Bilingual Online Destination for Hispanic Moms
Top Hispanic Industry Veterans Hired for Key Leadership Positions


NEW YORK,NY
--  CafeMom has announced the launch partners for Mamas Latinas (www.mamaslatinas.com), its web destination catering to Hispanic moms which will launch in January, 2012. Moms can now pre-register at mamaslatinas.com and view a series of "Soy Mama Latina" videos featuring Latina moms sharing their unique stories and perspectives on raising their children in the U.S.

Founding partners include Chevrolet, General Mills, Kmart, and Sears. To support the new website, CafeMom also announced several key hires for the Mamas Latinas executive team.

"We are thrilled to be launching Mamas Latinas in collaboration with these great brands that have been consistently committed to reaching and connecting with Hispanic consumers," said CafeMom CEO, Michael Sanchez. "With the support of these companies, we look forward to creating a groundbreaking destination that will add value to the lives of millions of Hispanic moms."

Founding partners will be fundamentally integrated into the site experience, adding value to moms' lives through the development of active communities, compelling content, and great deals. Word of mouth initiatives and private insights platforms add to the level of custom programs, unprecedented in Hispanic marketing.

"Both Kmart and Sears recognize how critical Hispanic moms are to the success of our businesses," said Andrew Stein, VP of Marketing Planning for Sears and Kmart. "By 2014, one in four moms online will be Hispanic - as an influential and underserved group of consumers we want to make sure we fill their specialized needs. We are delighted to partner with CafeMom and Mamas Latinas to deliver this compelling platform for this important consumer."

Leading the effort is Mamas Latinas Co-founder and EVP Lucia Ballas-Traynor, a 25-year Hispanic media veteran who has been at the helm of leading brands such as Univision's Galavision, MTV Tr3s and most recently People en Espanol, the top selling Hispanic magazine in the U.S. Three well-known industry leaders will join Ballas-Traynor on the executive team. -- Johanna Torres -- Editor-in-Chief -- is a leading multi-media editor, journalist and producer with deep experience in the U.S. Hispanic media market. Torres has served as Editor-in-Chief for national publications like Ser Padres and Lamaze, and as Founding Editor of Meredith's Siempre Mujer magazine, one of the top three leading Hispanic magazines in the U.S. Torres also founded Mi Blogazine, a lifestyle blog for Latinas. She also serves as Lifestyle Expert and Blogger for outlets such as AOL Latino, and regularly appears as a guest on CNN en Espanol's NotiMujer, Univision, Telemundo, and Yahoo's De Moda.

-- Stacey C. Rivera -- Managing Editor
-- joins the team from Latina Media Ventures, where she worked as Digital Content Director, responsible for the day-to-day management of Latina.com, the website owned by Latina magazine, the leading English-language lifestyle magazine for Hispanic women. Rivera's work with top Latino celebrities to create original video and social media content lead to significant increases in traffic to Latina.com. During her career, Rivera has served as managing editor at Hallmark Magazine, Stuff magazine, and Hamptons Country.
-- Andrea Slodowicz -- VP, Marketing -- is a Hispanic industry leader in consumer communication and innovation. As VP Director of Strategy and Content Development for Starcom MediaVest Group Multicultural, Slodowicz was responsible for the development of award-winning, ownable ideas and custom implementation for top 500 advertisers, such as Kraft, Post, Avon, Comcast, Heineken, and Wendy's. During her 10 year tenure with the agency, she also directed strategic media planning across Tapestry and MV42's for an esteemed client roster. Slodowicz has been recognized for her innovative multicultural marketing with numerous prestigious awards including AdAgeMagazine's "25 Twenty Somethings" and Media Magazine's "The New Media DNA".

"I am delighted to lead a team of such seasoned and talented Hispanic market veterans," says Ballas-Traynor. "They all have a deep understanding of Hispanic moms as well as what kind of conversations, content and offerings that engage and moves them. Most importantly, they are all as passionate as I am about the opportunity to create a rich destination where Hispanic moms can connect over their common culture, heritage, and life experiences."

About Mamas Latinas: Launching in January 2012, Mamas Latinas is poised to become the leading and most trusted bilingual online destination dedicated to connecting, informing, entertaining and empowering Latina moms by super-serving their culturally unique interests and needs. At the core of Mamas Latinas will be a dynamic community offering, engaging and targeted editorial content, and entertaining diversions like games.

About CafeMom: Launched in late 2006, CafeMom is the number one site on the internet for moms and the premier strategic marketing partner to brands that want to reach moms in a rapidly changing digital environment. CafeMom reaches more than 9MM unique visitors per month on CafeMom.com and 23MM+ unique visitors per month on CafeMom Plus (comScore, Sept. 2011), a boutique network of sites that reach moms and parents. CafeMom is also the leader in developing custom programs for top brands that want to connect with and understand moms online. In May 2011, CafeMom extended its offering beyond community and content and into commerce by launching Mom.com, a local daily deals site targeted to moms and their families. CafeMom lead investors are Highland Capital Partners and Draper Fisher Jurvetson. The company was founded by Andrew Shue and Michael Sanchez.

SOURCE: CafeMom

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Latina appointed to Education Board

Lockheed Martin Vice President Maria E. Ruess Confirmed to Barry Goldwater Foundation Board of Trustees

WASHINGTON, D.C.  -- Maria E. Ruess, a Lockheed Martin vice president of business development, will serve on the Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation Board of Trustees. She was nominated by President Barack Obama in May and recently confirmed by the Senate.

Since joining Lockheed Martin in 1999, Ruess has held various positions of increasing responsibility in business development, program management, engineering and finance. In May, Ruess was named vice president for international business development and strategy within the Mission Systems & Sensors business, headquartered in Washington, D.C.

The Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation was formed by Congress in 1986 to honor Senator Barry M. Goldwater. The organization encourages outstanding students to pursue careers in the fields of mathematics, the natural sciences and engineering and awards scholarships to undergraduate sophomores and juniors from the U.S.

Ruess has more than 20 years of experience supporting professional development with a focus on Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). A former teacher at Saint Bernard's High School in Los Angeles and a Hands on Science Outreach volunteer at her local school, Ruess continues to mentor students through organizations such as the Hispanic College Fund and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute, and is a board member of Great Minds in STEM(TM). She is also an active leader in many Lockheed Martin organizations including the Women's Success Forum, the Executive Diversity Council and the Hispanic Mentoring and Leadership Association, as well as the chair of the Hispanic Leadership council.

Ruess was honored as one of the Most Influential Hispanics in Technology and Business from Career Communications Group, Inc. at a ceremony this summer. In 2009, she received the Pioneer Award from Great Minds in STEM, a non-profit organization that focuses on STEM educational awareness programs for students from kindergarten to careers.

Ruess received her bachelor's degree in engineering from the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Cali, Colombia, and earned her master's of business administration from George Washington University.

Lockheed Martin invests heavily in STEM education programs. In 2010 alone, the Corporation spent more than $12 million on K-12 and higher education programs and scholarships. Lockheed Martin employees also volunteered nearly 200,000 hours in education-related activities. Overall, Lockheed Martin delivered standards-based, STEM-related curriculum to 3.5 million students through direct classroom engagement of its employees and strategic education partnerships with NASA, National Geographic, and the National Science Foundation.

Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin is a global security company that employs about 126,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. The Corporation's 2010 sales from continuing operations were $45.8 billion.

For additional information, visit our website: http://www.lockheedmartin.com/ms2

SOURCE Lockheed Martin