In October 2008, little did we imagine that the first issue of Café magazine would come out as the economy hit the skids. It’s not too hard to understand why people in the industry thought that we had lost all of our marbles as we set forth in our mission of exploring the contemporary Latino lifestyle through multiple platforms. For most, this idea alone was a risky business proposition.

Weathering this economy’s perfect storm has not been easy. But a year later, we stand tall and strong, working harder than ever. In spite of understandable skepticism, we have forged innovative partnerships with key marketers and brands, such as Diageo, National City PNC, Verizon Wireless and National Louis University. We appreciate their faith in this endeavour. They believe, as we do, that acculturated Latinos are an important segment of the growing Latino market. The presence of these brands across our multiple platforms has opened the minds of business executives and community leaders about the importance of catering to the interests and needs of acculturated Latinos.

Yet, we still find ourselves having to justify why we need to create unique culturally relevant content for this audience. Perhaps it’s because the belief for many years has been that the only way to reach the Latino market is exclusively through the use of Spanish-language media. Our mission continues to be to show how complex, dynamic and unique this market truly is. And that even though there is room for both English-language and Spanish-language media products, the dominant media force of the future will be English-language.

Café Media started as a regional company. But, precisely because of the need for culturally relevant content, the magazine and Web site have a significant national presence in the top five Latino markets. This has happened by sheer word-of-mouth, organically and virally. Moving forward, we will expand our reach through our digital and social platforms. In the coming year, we will be providing advertisers with multiple points of entry to a digitally savvy Latino audience. You can expect more original online content, in addition to multimedia projects, featured bloggers and opportunities to develop interactive relationships with our readers.

I am truly humbled by the support and enthusiasm readers, community leaders, advertisers and our investors have expressed to Café. We hope to build on the lessons learned this past year and to continue living up to, and even exceeding your expectations.

 

Julian Posada

President / Publisher

As a Founder and President of Café Media, Julian oversees the vision and strategy of his fast growing media company that targets 2nd and 3rd generation Hispanics through a combination of print, event, e-newsletters and web platforms.

Julian previously served as General Manager for Tribune’s Hoy Newspaper, Chicago’s only Spanish Daily Newspaper.  Julian was responsible for the day to day activities of Hoy Chicago which include Editorial, Sales, Finance, Marketing, Circulation and Production of the daily newspaper.  Julian was responsible for setting the tone and guide the newspaper to be relevant to its readers as well a vehicle for advertisers to reach the growing Hispanic community.  He was part of the team responsible for launching Hoy in Chicago as well as Los Angeles where he was responsible for National Sales and Marketing.

Prior to these roles Julian has also held senior level positions at Citibank in Colombia SA, was a Principal at the J.C. Williams Consulting group, and Director of Business Development at Querico.com part of Ethnicgrocer.com.

Julian currently serves on the board of the Academy for Urban School Leadership, The Taproot Foundation the American Red Cross of Greater Chicago, Public Allies, The Metropolitan YMCA and a Trustee of National Louis University among various other boards and committees within the Hispanic community. 

He is a McCormick Tribune Media Fellow (2006), winner of Presstime’s 20 under 40 (2007) as well as selected by Chicago United as a Business Leader of Color (2007).  Was selected as a recipient of the Cook County State's Attorney's 2008 Arnold Mireles Community Empowerment Award and in 2009 received the NSHMBA Brilante Award given to outstanding entrepreneurs.

Julian holds an MBA from the J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management and a BS in Food Systems, Economics and Management from Michigan State University.

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Alejandro Riera

Editor in Chief

Alejandro Riera has been active in Chicago's Hispanic media since 1988, when he and a group of independent producers launched "Orgullo Latino", a weekly news magazine series in the Chicago Access Network.

Alejandro joined ¡Éxito!, the Chicago Tribune’s Spanish-language weekly, as a full-time reporter in 1995. There, he wrote about entertainment and culture, covering local and national theater, music, film and television –with the occasional foray into politics. During that time, he was a frequent contributor to the Chicago Tribune's Tempo, Arts & Entertainment and Friday sections.

In Sept. 2003, Alejandro was involved in the transition of ¡Éxito! into Hoy, a daily newspaper. He was promoted to Senior Editor for Vida Hoy and Special Sections in Oct. 2004. There, he oversaw the transformation of Vida Hoy in Chicago, Los Angeles and New York from a weekend entertainment guide to a 5-day-a-week entertainment/lifestyle section. He also directed the re-launch of Fin de Semana, Hoy's weekend consumer-oriented publication.

Alejandro won the prestigious Peter Lisagor Award in 2000 for "Cuando los tambores callaron," a story that chronicled local reaction to Tito Puente's surprising death.

 

 Alejandro is a current board member of the Old Town School of Folk Music and a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association where he served on their board for more than 5 years. He has a Bachelor of Arts degree in English with a Concentration on Film and Literature from Carleton College in Minnesota and a Master of Arts degree in Telecommunication Arts from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

Contact: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

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Maura Wall Hernandez

Assistant Managing Editor

Maura Wall Hernandez is the Assistant Managing Editor at Café Media and teaches journalism as an adjunct faculty member at Columbia College Chicago. Her writing, photography and research work has appeared in a number of publications and on the web, including Advertising Age, Crain’s Chicago Business, the Chicago Tribune’s RedEye, Hispanic Tips, Spanglish Baby and others.

Maura holds a B.A. in English from Miami University and an M.A. in Public Affairs Journalism from Columbia College Chicago. She serves as Vice President of New Media for the Association for Women Journalists and is a member of the National Educators Association and the Illinois Education Association. Maura lives in Chicago with her husband and authors The Other Side of The Tortilla, a blog about traditional Mexican cooking and culture. You can find her tweeting about journalism, food, photography, Latino issues and more @MauraHernandez.

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Mitch Posada

Business Development

Over the last 15 years Mitchell Posada work spans a wide range of companies from start-ups, marketing agencies, and non-profits to Fortune 500 leaders. Mitchell has developed a unique blend of consulting capabilities in the consumer services and products marketplace while maintaining a balanced focus on emerging media and mobile communications as well as access to capital to help companies enter and profit from the growing markets like the Hispanic market. Mitchell brings an up to date look at emerging digital media distribution including IPTV, ad networks, social networking, mobile, and online consumer applications.  Mitchell has prior experience working at or with Fortune 500 companies including Hewlett Packard, Ernst & Young LLC, Nestle, Wells Fargo, IDT Telecom, Humana, Washington Mutual to startups including AdMob, Optimal Auctions, MarketTools, GBMobile, AccountNow, and several others.

Mitchell is a member of the Access to Business Capital, an initiative of the California Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and chair of the ABC group’s angel investors subcommittee as well as board of Access to Entertainment Capital committee (www.cahcc.com/abc/). Mitchell is also the creator and now co-producer of Hispanic-Net Venture Forum and Angel Summit. 

Mitchell got his MBA from the University of California Berkeley, Haas School of Business and his BA from Michigan State University, Eli Broad College of Business.

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Do your best work with no regrets. That has been my guiding principle whether I was working in the private sector or in the non-profit field. Café Media is a step in that direction.

Why Café Media? As a business executive, I noticed that the media industry treats Latinos as an either/or proposition: either Latinos are spoken to in Spanish or they are lumped into the mainstream audience. But I am not an either/or proposition. I am fiercely proud of my heritage and, more often than not, I communicate in English in both business and social circles. Considering that acculturated Latinos are the largest and fastest growing segment of the U.S. population, are our interests being catered to? I believe not.

Café Media is an outgrowth of this realization. Its goal is to fill a void in the media landscape by offering culturally-relevant content that meets the needs of acculturated English-dominant Latinos. It is this space that most U.S. Latinos occupy, that delicate balancing act of living between–and embracing–the best of two cultures, that we at Café Media want to explore and celebrate.

Success for us will be defined by our ability to deliver content that inspires, educates and entertains across multiple platforms: Café magazine, cafemagazine.com, El Cafecito (bi-weekly newsletter) and Café Experience (proprietary events). My hopes are that Café Media allows readers to see themselves and engages them in the process of creating a voice that is truly representative.