Showing 11 results
Video Recording

Interview with former Missouri state representative Paul Rojas about his experience with the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Greater Kansas City. He recalls the need of Hispanic businesses to be able to access bank loans, insurance, and opportunities for state contracts, and that the local chamber led to the formation of a United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce a few years later. He discusses the chamber's role in increasing Hispanic visibility in local governance, their growing political astuteness and advocacy, and linking the business community and social services.

Video Recording

Interview with Rafael Garcia about his life and experience with the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce. He discusses navigating racism and discrimination as a young person, the historical exclusion of Hispanic businesspeople from the traditional chambers of commerce, his experience of the early days of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the differences between it and the Kansas City chamber. He also shares memories of Hector Barreto giving him encouragement, introductions, and coaching in how to engage with the business and civic community, leading to an opportunity with Hallmark. He was later invited by board president Estella Morales to join the chamber's board, and shares additional thoughts about the role of the chamber in the community.

Interview with Anna Barreto Favrow, joined by her mother Mary Barreto, about her father Hector Barreto Sr., founder of the Chamber of Commerce of Greater Kansas City and United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. She discusses her father's opinions on the importance of education, political power, and economic power, his relationship with his family, and chamber leadership that came after him.

Video Recording

Interview with Valerie Coyazo about her experience with the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Greater Kansas City. She discusses joining the chamber while working at AT&T, and joining the board and later being elected chairperson while working for Aquila. She discusses the origins of KC BizFest, the youth entrepreneurship program Latinos of Tomorrow, and other organizations and events aimed at job placement and advancement for young Latinos.

Video Recording

Interview with CiCi Rojas about her experience with the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Greater Kansas City as well as the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. She recalls getting involved with the local chamber while on the board of El Centro and becoming a board member in the 1990s. She discusses the role the chamber played in giving the Hispanic business community a collective voice, her time as vice president of the United States, Dallas, and Kansas City Hispanic chambers, and discusses programs including KC Biz Fest, Hispanic Collaborative, and Fiesta in the Heartland.

Video Recording

Interview with Taqueria Mexico owner Arturo Romo about his experience with the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Greater Kansas City. He recalls moving to Kansas City in 1992, opening his restaurant in 1993 with the assistance of Hector Barreto, Sr., becoming a member of the chamber a few years later, and being invited to join the board of directors. He discusses the social and banking connections he was able to make through the chamber, expanding to new locations, and bringing his family to join him in Kansas City.

Video Recording

Interview with Jeanette Hernandez Prenger about her career and her experience with the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Greater Kansas City. She recalls being approached by Michael Barrera and CiCi Rojas to join the chamber, and later joining the board and being elected chairperson, as well as joining the board of the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. She discusses the role the Hispanic chamber can play for small businesses, the role it has played in her own success, admires the work of other chamber members, and looks to challenges in the chamber's future.

Video Recording

Interview with Dos Mundos newspaper founder Clara Reyes about her life and her experience with the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Greater Kansas City. She recalls immigrating to the Kansas City area from Guadalajara, Mexico, to join family, her work in dentistry and real estate, being the niece of Hector Barreto, founder of the local and national Hispanic chambers of commerce. She discusses Barreto's interest in advocating for the Hispanic business community, early members of the chamber, covering chamber activities in Dos Mundos, and Rockhurst and Penn Valley colleges working with the chamber to offer scholarships to minority students. She also discusses Barreto's role in the founding of the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, originally located in Kansas City, and its move to Washington, DC, the local chamber's role in helping small businesses access bank loans and encouraging entrepreneurship, and lists the Kansas City chamber's presidents from its founding to the present.

Video Recording

Interview with Mary Barreto about her life and her husband Hector Barreto, founder of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Greater Kansas City and president of the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. Born in 1935, Barreto recounts her father's immigration from Michoacan, Mexico to the Kansas City area in 1928, and his work for the Missouri Portland Cement Company, where Mary's family met the Barretos. She recalls stories of Hector's work in packing houses and the railroad, opening an import business, and owning and operating Mexico Lindo restaurant in Independence. She also discusses Hector's role in founding the United States and Kansas City Hispanic Chambers of Commerce, noting other Hispanic Kansas Citians who were involved in the local chamber, and Hector's experience advising the Reagan and George H. W. Bush administrations. Hector and Mary's daughter Anna Favrow Barreto also participates in the discussion.

Video Recording

Interview with Estella Morales about her life and her experience with the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Greater Kansas City. She recounts getting involved with the chamber in the late 1980s as a liaison from City Hall, and was later elected to the board. She describes the chamber at that point as being mostly a social and promotional club that continued to grow in its outreach and business development efforts over the years, and their success in getting the greater business community to recognize what the value of the local Hispanic community. She recalls the work of leaders including CiCi Rojas, Miguel Meneses, and Charles Delgado, shares memories of Hector Barreto and his work with the local and national Hispanic chambers, and describes chamber programs including KC BizFest and Latinos of Tomorrow and the increasing role of women in the organization.