Latino Elected Officials to Meet As Community Shifts Focus From Ballot Box to Public Policy

June 2, 2009

After Exercising Unprecedented Influence in Election '08, Latinos Prepare to Help Craft Policy Agenda at All Levels of Government

Participants to Address Census, Economy, Education, Health and Sustainability Issues at 26th Annual Conference this Month

LOS ANGELES, June 2 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- As Latino Americans assume roles at the highest levels of the Obama Administration, Congress and perhaps the U.S. Supreme Court, the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) will assemble nearly eight hundred Latino officials to prepare to help craft the nation's public policy at all levels of government. The NALEO 26th Annual Conference will take place in Los Angeles, California from June 25-27, 2009.

The three-day event, which has long served as the nation's Latino political convention, will bring together officials from across the nation, at every level of elected office, with leading policy experts from the public, private and non-profit sectors to address a broad public policy agenda, including the 2010 Census, sustainability, education, health care and immigration reform.

Sessions at the Conference are designed to enhance the governance skills of participants and deepen their understanding of critical policy issues so they are able to translate their knowledge into strategies for building stronger and healthier communities. Conference participants will be joined by U.S. Representatives Joe Baca, Xavier Becerra, and Lucille Roybal-Allard; California Latino Caucus Chair and State Senator Gil Cedillo; California Assembly Speaker Karen Bass; Los Angeles County Supervisor Gloria Molina; Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa; and His Excellency Arturo Sarukhan, Mexican Ambassador to the United States.

Last year's NALEO conference in Washington, D.C. featured appearances by then-Senator Barack Obama, Senator John McCain, Senator Hillary Clinton, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and many other national, state and local leaders.

To view a full conference agenda and registration info, please visit: http://www.naleo.org/annualconference.html

What: NALEO 26th Annual Conference

Who: NALEO, the nation's membership organization of Latino public servants and NALEO Educational Fund, the leading organization that empowers Latinos to participate in the American political process, will host nearly 800 elected and appointed officials and their supporters at the nation's Latino political convention.

When: June 25 - 27, 2009

Where: Renaissance Hollywood Hotel

1755 N. Highland Avenue

Hollywood, California

MEDIA

REGISTRATION:

Advance registration is required. To access the media registration page please log on to our website at http://www.naleo.org/news/MediaRegistration_2009.pdf. You can register by contacting Eric Wagner at ewagner@naleo.org or by phone at (213) 747-7606, ext. 4427.

SOURCE National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO)