Novedades

Watch: http://www.podernc.org/watch-novelas     

The six episodes – with a total run time under 8 and ½ minutes — follows a young Latina, Alexia, as she finds her voice in her personal life, the workplace and, ultimately, as an informed voter who inspires others who are skeptical about voting. Poder NC’s goal is to encourage young Latinos to normalize talking about “taboo” topics like politics and abortion and establish a cultural practice of voting.

“We want young Latinos to see voting as a right of passage, the same way young Latinas look forward to their quinceañera. There is nothing inherently apathetic about the Latino electorate. But traditional candidates and campaigns fail to reach out to us in culturally relevant ways. That breeds low levels of political agency and voter turnout,” said Irene Godinez, the founder and co-executive director of Poder NC, who created the mini-telenovela.

“We’re showing the nation that young people and Latinos belong and we can use our voices to make life better for our families and everyone. The videos are genuinely funny, sometimes moving, and have plenty of Easter Eggs for fans of Latino pop culture,” said Godinez. 

Members of Latino Greek organizations across the nation will share the videos with undergraduate fraternity and sorority chapters on hundreds of campuses. There is a discussion guide for watch parties and a social media toolkit for nonpartisan campus engagement.  

In addition to Poder NC and 45 Latinx Greek Fraternities and Sororities, other organizations are sharing the telenovela, including national partners: When We All Vote and All* Above All; and state partners: Arizona Center for Empowerment, Florida Rising Together, Voces de la Frontera in Wisconsin, PICO California, and The Latina Initiative in Colorado. 

In North Carolina, the videos are part of an outreach strategy to the state’s 150,000 high opportunity Latino voters (what the industry calls low propensity voters) with canvassing, mailers that call back to the videos, digital ads, and “Ballots y Belleza,” events at beauty service businesses, including hair, nail, makeup, and waxing. 

Poder NC is spending $70,000 in digital, search engine, and TV streaming service ads, including Hulu.   

In 2020, due in part to Poder NC’s efforts, first time North Carolina Latino voters were 40% of the total Latino voter turnout – the biggest percent increase of first-time voters anywhere in the country.