Adelina "Nina" Otero-Warren
Woman's suffragist, educator, and politician
- First Latina to run for Congress
- Credited with ensuring New Mexico ratified the Nineteenth Amendment
- Served as one of New Mexico's first female government officials as the Santa Fe Superintendent of Instruction
- First Hispanic American to appear on US currency
Sylvia Rivera
Gay and transgender activist
- co-founded Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (STAR)
- fought for the Sexual Orientation Non-Discrimination Act in New York
- The Sylvia Rivera Law Project is dedicated "to guarantee that all people are free to self-determine gender identity and expression, regardless of income or race, and without facing harassment, discrimination or violence"
Roberto Críspulo Goizueta Cantera
CEO of The Coca-Cola Company
- CEO of The Coca-Cola Company for 16 years until the time of his death
- Established the Goizueta Foundation, with a goal to support educational and charity institutions in 1992
- During his tenure, the Coca-Cola brand became the best-known trademark in the world
Corporal Joseph H. De Castro
Medal of Honor recipient
- First Hispanic American to be awarded the United States's highest military decoration for valor in combat—the Medal of Honor—for having distinguished himself during Pickett's Charge in the Battle of Gettysburg of the American Civil War
Sonia Sotomayor
Supreme Court Associate Justice
- The third woman, first woman of color, and the first Hispanic and first Latina to serve on the Supreme Court
- Her ruling ended the 1994 baseball strike after 232 days, the day before the new season was scheduled to begin
Rodrigo Heng-Lehtinen
Activist
- the first openly-transgender child of a member of Congress
- Deputy Executive Director for Policy and Action at the National Center for Transgender Equality
Josef Martinez
Athlete
- the most decorated single-season player in MLS history by winning the League MVP, All-Star Game MVP, Golden Boot, and MLS Cup Final MVP
- holds the MLS record for career hat-tricks with six in his first 44 games, the record for cumulative goals in regular and post season with 35, the record for most consecutive games with a goal (15), and formerly held the record for goals in a single season (31 in 2018)
- Scored 100 goals in the MLS faster than any single player in league history (125 games)
Jean-Michel Basquiat
Neo-Expressionist Artist
- An American artist who rose to success during the 1980s as part of the Neo-expressionism movement
- At 21, Basquiat became the youngest artist to ever take part in documenta in Kassel
- At 22, he was one of the youngest to exhibit at the Whitney Biennial in New York
Ariana DeBose
Actor
- The first queer woman of color to receive an Oscar in an acting category for her role as Anita in West Side Story
- Originated the role of The Bullet in Lin-Manuel Miranda's musical Hamilton
- Won the 2022 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
María Elena Bottazzi
Scientist, Educatator
- Co-led the team that designed COVID-19 vaccine Corbevax
- Studied microbiology and clinical chemistry as an undergraduate at the National Autonomous University of Honduras (1989), then earned a doctorate in molecular immunology and experimental pathology from the University of Florida in 1995
- She completed post-doctoral work in cellular biology at the University of Miami (1998) and the University of Pennsylvania (2001)
Walter Alvarez
Scientist
- Co-developed the Alvarez hypothesis which proposes that the extinction event that wiped out the non-avian dinosaurs was the result of an asteroid impact
- Contributed to the understanding of Mediterranean tectonics, Roman geology and archeology, and the establishment of magnetostratigraphic correlations
Jose Hernadez
Athlete
- Primarily a shortstop, Hernández played every position except pitcher
- In a 15-season career, Hernández had a .252 batting average with 159 home runs and 563 RBI in 1408 games
- a member of the 1999 National League Champion Atlanta Braves
Rubén Gómez
Athlete
- the first Puerto Rican to pitch in a World Series game and the first Puerto Rican player to be a member of a World Series championship team
- nicknamed El Divino Loco ("The Divine Madman"), on account of his willingness to pitch in tough situations and #22
- Inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1999
Antonia Pantoja
educator, activist, LGBTQ+
- the first Puerto Rican woman to receive the American Presidential Medal of Freedom
- founded ASPIRA (Spanish for "aspire"), a non-profit organization that promoted a positive self-image, commitment to community, and education as a value as part of the ASPIRA Process to Puerto Rican and other Latino youth in New York City
- Iinducted into the Legacy Walk
Felicitas Méndez & Gonzalo Mendez
Activists
- Their landmark desegregation case, known as Mendez v. Westminster, paved the way for meaningful integration and public school reform.
- Led an educational civil rights battle that changed California and set an important legal precedent for ending de jure segregation in the United States
David Martínez
Businessman
- a Mexican investor who is the founder and managing partner of Fintech Advisory, a firm that specializes in corporate and sovereign debt
- Described as "the most influential Mexican on Wall Street,"
Graciela Rivera
Singer
- In December 1951, she became the first Puerto Rican to sing a lead role at the New York Metropolitan Opera as Lucia in the production of Lucia di Lammermoor
- Juilliard School of Music Graduate
Luis Walter Alvarez
Scientist
- Awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1968 for his discovery of resonance states in particle physics using the hydrogen bubble chamber
- Considered one of the most brilliant and productive experimental physicists of the twentieth century
- Co-developed the Alvarez hypothesis which proposes that the extinction event that wiped out the non-avian dinosaurs was the result of an asteroid impact
Gwen Ifill
Journalist
- In 1999, she became the first African-American woman to host a nationally televised U.S. public affairs program with Washington Week in Review
- the first African-American woman to moderate a vice-presidential debate
- Parents from Barbados and Panama
Angel Ramos
Educator
- the second deaf Hispanic/Latino to receive a doctorate degree
- the first deaf Hispanic/Latino to receive a doctorate from Gallaudet University
- founder of the National Hispanic Council of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing
Angel Ramos
Businessman
- founded Radio El Mundo and WKAQ-TV Telemundo
- In 1950, Ramos was the recipient of the María Moors Cabot Award, bestowed upon him by Columbia University
- He entered El Mundo during high school years as a typesetter, and went on to become the owner of the newspaper.
Emilio Azcárraga Vidaurreta
Businessman
- Mexican businessman who built an entertainment conglomerate
- Founded Televisa the precursor to TelevisaUnivision
- The first president of Telesistemas Mexicanos in 1955
Dolores Huerta
Activist
- co-founder of the National Farmworkers Association, which later merged with the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee to become the United Farm Workers (UFW)
- organize the Delano grape strike in 1965 in California and was the lead negotiator in the workers' contract that was created after the strike
- the first Latina inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame, in 1993
Pedro Marin
Politician
- the first Latino to have ever been elected to the Georgia General Assembly
Brenda Lopez Romero
Politician, Activitist
- the first Latina to have ever been elected to the Georgia General Assembly
- serves as Senior Assistant District Attorney for the Gwinnett Judicial Circuit handling special projects
- Board Member of GALEO Impact Fund
Deborah Gonzalez
Judge
- the first Latina to be elected District Attorney in the state of Georgia.
- District Attorney for Georgia's Western Circuit district
- served as a state representative for Georgia House District 117
Jose Clemente Orozco
Artist
- Mexican caricaturist and painter, who specialized in political murals that established the Mexican Mural Renaissance
- Known as one of the 'Big Three' muralists along with Diego Rivera and David Alfaro Siqueiros
Esther Salas
Judge
- The first Hispanic woman to serve as a United States Magistrate Judge and as a United States District Judge in the District of New Jersey
Federico Peña
Politician
- first Hispanic mayor of Denver
- United States Secretary of Transportation from 1993 to 1997
- United States Secretary of Energy from 1997 to 1998
