The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, U.S. Department of Education and Leading Education and Hispanic-Serving Organizations Renew Commitment to Creating a College Bound Culture

Univision Communications Inc., the leading media company serving Hispanic America, today unveiled the second phase of its highly successful, multi-platform education initiative, Es El Momento (The Moment is Now). The initiative’s second phase highlights the importance of children having role models in their lives, encouraging parents to teach by example and instill in their children the importance of education, as the key to their success.

“Es El Momento’s second phase illustrates the inspirational journey of Hispanic individuals who were given the support and motivation needed to follow their dreams and aspirations. The campaign further underscores the importance of engagement and parents’ and role models’ presence in their children’s lives to ensure academic achievement,” said Joe Uva, president and CEO of Univision Communications Inc. “The continued success of Latino youth is critical to our country’s economic success and at Univision we are committed to playing our part to ensure we provide Hispanic families with access to the tools and resources needed to succeed.”

United States Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan stated, “We are absolutely committed to reducing dropout rates and boosting student achievement among Hispanic students. Our collaboration with Univision and other public/private partnerships is critical to our success. We look forward to continuing to work with Univision to cultivate and support a college-going culture among Hispanic students.”

The second phase of Es El Momento presents a series of motivational Public Service Announcements (PSAs) featuring leading Hispanics, including Indy Car series race car driver and engineer, Milka Duno; composer, lyricist and Tony Award-winner, Lin Manuel Miranda; NASA astronaut and engineer, José Hernández; and award-winning novelist, Sandra Cisneros. The Es El Momento ambassadors were selected based on their outstanding achievements and inspirational stories of success that were positively impacted by the presence of their parents and role models. The PSAs were developed by Miami-based firm República. In addition, by leveraging all its platforms, television, radio and local outreach events,  the initiative is  helping connect Hispanic families with the tools and resources needed to succeed. As part of the second phase, Es El Momento will continue to  expand its comprehensive, designated website www.eselmomento.com.

“We are extremely proud of what we have been able to accomplish in the first year of Es El Momento in creating a college-bound culture as part of our mission to inform, entertain and empower Hispanic America,” said Cesar Conde, president, Univision Networks. “The response from our community and our partners has been phenomenal, which is why we have high expectations for the second phase of this important initiative that will play a part in ensuring the future economic success of our country.”

The 2010 Census is expected to show there are more than 50 million Hispanics in the U.S., and that overall, the population growth in the United States is being driven by the Hispanic community. Yet according to some of the latest research, Hispanic students across the country continue to lag behind in graduation rates compared to their non-Hispanic peers. Furthermore, a large gap remains between Latino students and their non-Latino counterparts in key areas of academic achievement – from standardized test scores and high school graduation, to college registration and completion.

Univision’s Es El Momento initiative, with the unwavering support of its Advisory Board, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the U.S. Department of Education and major national and local community-based organizations, is making an impact in fostering academic achievement and college aspiration among the U.S. Hispanic community. The initiative has touched thousands  of families in its first year through thousands of national PSAs and informational vignettes featured on the network’s multiple media platforms, and through local and national news coverage, special programming, and storyline integration into its primetime hit novela “Eva Luna.” Partnerships working at the local grassroots level have marked resonance and helped propel a movement for change in educational attainment for Latino youth.  Collaboration from partners  such as  NASA and The College Board have been instrumental in providing important information, including the promotion of STEM efforts, internship opportunities and vital information for the transition from high school to college.  In addition, the initiative has hosted dozens of events nationwide, including financial preparedness town halls in Chicago, San Antonio, Fresno and New York as well as comprehensive education fairs in Los Angeles and Austin that attracted thousands of attendees.

CONTACT:

Carolina Valencia
212-455-4712
[email protected]

About Univision’s Es El Momento

Es El Momento, launched in February 2010, is Univision’s comprehensive, multi-platform, national education initiative aimed at improving academic achievement among K-12 Hispanic students. The initiative focuses on college readiness, high school and college completion, as well as engaging Hispanic parents and the broader community. This effort is conducted in partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the U.S. Department of Education, community, education and civil rights groups from around the country. Other partners  include ASPIRA, the Hispanic Scholarship Fund, The College Board and NASA. As the premier media company serving the U.S. Hispanic community, Univision’s mission is to inform, entertain and empower Hispanics. Es El Momento builds on Univision’s legacy of supporting the community through the creation of initiatives on issues affecting them, including education, health and civic engagement.

About Univision Communications Inc.

Univision Communications Inc. (UCI) is the premier media company serving the U.S. Hispanic community. Its assets include Univision Network, one of the top five networks in the U.S. regardless of language and the most-watched Spanish-language broadcast television network in the U.S. reaching 95% of U.S. Hispanic Households; TeleFutura Network, a general-interest Spanish-language broadcast television network, reaching 85% of U.S. Hispanic Households; Galavisión, the country’s leading Spanish-language cable network; Univision Studios, which produces and co-produces reality shows, dramatic series and other programming formats for the Company’s platforms; Univision Local Media, which owns and/or operates 62 television stations and 70 radio stations in major U.S. Hispanic markets and Puerto Rico; Univision Interactive Media, which includes Univision.com, the leading Spanish-language Internet destination in the U.S., and Univision Móvil, the industry’s most comprehensive Spanish-language suite of mobile offerings; and TuTv, U.S. outlet for pay television channels of Mexico-based Grupo Televisa. Headquartered in New York City, UCI has television network operations in Miami and television and radio stations and sales offices in major cities throughout the United States. For more information, please visit www.univision.net.