Wed, Aug 14
|ZOOM
Renata Soto, Founder and President of Mosaic Changemakers
Time & Location
Aug 14, 2024, 7:00 AM – 8:30 AM
ZOOM
About the event
From the land of pura vida, Costa Rica, and a family of poets, educators, activists and entrepreneurs, Renata Soto adopted the U.S. South as her home almost three decades ago. She began her social impact career right out of college in Atlanta, GA, and has honed her social entrepreneurial spirit in Nashville, TN, for the last 25 years.
Renata is founder and president of Mosaic Changemakers, an organization established in 2020 with the single aim of weaving a better South by uplifting, growing and connecting changemakers of color who are on the front lines of advancing positive community change.
Before Mosaic, Renata led Conexión Américas, the nonprofit organization she co-founded in 2002 to serve Tennessee's Latino and other immigrant communities. There, she led the vision to create Casa Azafrán and Azafrán Park, two groundbreaking community development projects on Nolensville Pike at the gateway to Nashville’s international district that are recognized as models for nonprofit innovation, collaboration and placemaking. Even President Obama took notice and in 2014 visited Casa Azafrán to host a nationally televised town hall on immigration policy.
Renata left Conexión Américas in 2019 after 17 years at the helm. She spent the following two years as a senior fellow at Harvard University’s Advanced Leadership Initiative.
As a volunteer, nationally, Renata served for 10 years on the board of directors, and as chair from 2015-2018, of UnidosUS, the largest Latino civil rights organization in the United States. Currently she serves as board chair of its sister organization, UnidosUS Action Fund, which works to expand the influence and political power of the Latino community. In addition, she serves on the White House Hispanic Initiative Commission after being appointed by President Biden in 2022. Locally, Renata serves on the board of the Nashville Public Library Foundation and is co-chair of Imagine Nashville, a year-long citywide visioning and action planning process.
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