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1 Dear Fuente Latina friends, Fuente Latina rocketed forward in 2016, another productive year where we reached approximately 357 million Spanish-speaking consumers of news through supporting journalists worldwide. FL facilitated +400 interviews, yielding more than 8,000 accurate print, radio and TV news stories related to strategic issues, such as Iran’s activities in Latin America, Israel as a startup nation, and Palestinian terrorism.

Fuente Latina year end report 2016

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Dear Fuente Latina friends,

Fuente Latina rocketed forward in 2016, another productive year where we reached

approximately 357 million Spanish-speaking consumers of news through supporting

journalists worldwide. FL facilitated +400 interviews, yielding more than 8,000

accurate print, radio and TV news stories related to strategic issues, such as Iran’s

activities in Latin America, Israel as a startup nation, and Palestinian terrorism.

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As Fuente Latina commences its fifth year of operation, it is gratifying to reflect back

over the first four, where we facilitated +1,800 interviews with journalists based in

Spain, the U.S and throughout Latin America – yielding over 26,000 print, radio and TV

news stories, in Spanish, about Israel. From the strides over the ensuing four years,

Fuente Latina has been building the fundamental groundwork, forming an apt

foundation for this milestone fifth year, as you will see in the forthcoming pages. On

behalf of Fuente Latina, our staff, board, and friends and supporters around the globe

– THANK YOU for contributing to our success in informing Spanish speakers worldwide

about Israel. Mil gracias!

With warm regards,

Leah Soibel

President and Founder

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MISSIONS TO ISRAEL

Fuente Latina organized and hosted 10 Latino media missions to Israel: 3 in

cooperation with the Jewish Federation of Spain, 3 jointly hosted with the Israeli

Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and 4 hosted by FL, thanks to the generosity of our donors.

Following every mission, without exception, FL staff has followed up with all

journalists, inviting more stores, supporting them with information pertaining to their

areas of interest, and honoring their inquiries..FL’s Communication Director further

cultivated relationships through personal meetings, with journalists from Argentina,

Madrid and Brazil.

1. U.S. Hispanic/National Association of Hispanic Journalists Members

Fuente Latina’s April mission brought 8 members of The National Association of

Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ), the main umbrella organization for Latino journalists in the

United States, to Israel. Journalists represented major Latino media outlets from New

York, Washington DC, Miami, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Dallas and Chicago.

Resulting Output: Participants published 20 stories thus far.

2. Argentinian and Mexican Journalists

FL organized a June mission for 8 Latin American journalists: 4 each from Argentina

and Mexico.

Resulting Output: Participants published more than 30 stories during the mission.

3. TVE Journalist Mission (Co-Host: Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

The March mission featured TVE, Spain’s No.1 TV network, which filmed a one-hour

segment about Israeli technology for one of their most watched shows,

Emprendedores (Entrepreneurs). The Israeli Embassy in Spain contracted FL to produce

a mission for two on-air personalities and cameraman.

Resulting Output: The TVE production was a one-hour segment of pro-Israel

information about Israel as a Startup Nation, and the on-air personalities have since

reached out to Fuente Latina for more sources and information regarding future

stories.

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4. Spanish Journalist Mission (Co-Host: Jewish Federation of Spain)

FL brought three top Spanish journalists in April, and designed a specialty program

related to Israel as a Startup Nation.

Resulting Output: Six articles were published immediately following the trip, read by

600,000 Hispanics.

5. Vueling Spanish Journalist Mission (Co-Host: Israeli Foreign Ministry)

The low-cost European airline “Vueling” sponsored 2 Spanish “foodie journalists” to

blog about traveling on a budget in their popular blog Gastronomistas (Spain’s #1

gastronomy blog). The Israeli Embassy in Spain, which subsequently contracted FL to

produce the mission, and accompany their June journey, hatched the idea.

Resulting Output: Six articles resulted from this trip.

6. Latin American Technology Journalists

Four Latin American journalists participated in FL’s annual Latin American Mission for

Science and Technology, conducted in September. Leading radio and print journalists

from Paraguay, Chile, Colombia and Panama participated in the mission.

Resulting Output: Within two months of the tour, 15 stories were published. In Chile, a

four-page story about Israel as a Startup Nation, and as a foodie and cultural hub, was

published in its #1 newspaper. In Paraguay, ABC Newspaper opened a new section of

its daily, entitled, “Color en Israel”, to highlight all the stories published about Israel by

the correspondent who participated in this FL mission.

7. Spanish Culture Journalists Mission (Co-Host: Jewish Federation of Spain)FL’s

April program for five-Madrid-based journalists focused on cultural issues.

Resulting Output: Two TV segments and 2 articles were published within four months

following the mission.

8. U.S. Hispanic Leaders Mission (Co-Host: Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

Fuente Latina organized a mission for U.S. Latino civic leaders – a first occurrence!

Conducted in cooperation with the Israeli Ministry, the December trip brought

together civic leaders from California, Arizona, Illinois, New York and New Jersey. FL

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staff learned from the experience of planning and accompanying this influential group,

and look forward to the next challenge of conducting follow-up activities over the long

run.

Resulting Output: Follow-up meetings are taking place throughout 2017.

9. Uruguayan Technology Leaders Mission

On a recommendation by the Israeli Embassy in Uruguay, the National Agency for

Investigation and Innovation contracted Fuente Latina to organize a November mission

for 4 of its members – entrepreneurs, all. The mission took participants to start-ups

throughout Israel, and brought participants to the Eilat-Eilot Green Energy Conference,

which promotes the use and development of renewable energy. This was another first

for FL, organizing a trip in Spanish for Latin American entrepreneurs.

Resulting Output: The entrepreneurs are looking to invest in Israeli startups, and FL is

scheduling follow up activity with them during 2017.

10. Caribbean Journalists Mission (Co-Host: Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

In December, the Israeli Foreign Ministry contracted FL to conduct the first Caribbean

journalist mission to Israel in recent years. FL brought 8 high level journalists from

Guyana, the Bahamas, Antigua, Jamaica, St. Lucia, Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago and

St. Vincent, in concert with the Foreign Ministry’s Central America Director. The

journalists had an “excellent experience”.

Resulting Output: Five (5) articles were published during the trip. FL is following up

with the journalists during 2017.

At least 40% of the journalists continue to publish pieces about Israel on a monthly

basis. See the Appendix for selected output.

SOCIAL MEDIA/CONTENT

With steadily increasing rates of social media engagement and content production,

Fuente Latina published 37 articles in top Hispanic newspapers in the U.S. and Latin

America, thereby more than doubling op-ed production vs. the same period in 2015.

Facebook and Twitter followers increased by 25.1% and 34.1%, respectively, with

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Twitter found to be the more successful of the two for communicating and maintaining

contact with journalists.

FL published and sent 16 factsheets in Spanish, on a variety of topics, to our journalist

mailing list. Subjects of interest to the Hispanic media dealt with the death of Alberto

Nisman, Sarona terrorist attack, AMIA anniversary and the death of Shimon Peres. The

“open rate” (rate of opening FL correspondence by intended recipients) of our material

has averaged 37%, up from a 30% average in 2015.

Media outlets that regularly opened FL materials include:

NTN24 - #2 TV network in Colombia.

EFE (Spain) - #1 Spanish language news agency in the world.

El Nuevo Herald (Miami) - #1 Spanish language daily in Miami, #2 in the U.S.

Radio Capital - #1 News talk radio station in Perú.

Infobae - #1 news agency in Argentina.

La Razón - #4 daily in Spain.

El Diario - #1 Spanish language daily in NY.

Univisión - #1 Spanish language TV network in the U.S.

Notimex - #1 news agency in México.

Folha de Sao Paolo - #1 daily in Brazil.

La Nación - #1 daily in Costa Rica.

La Nación - #1 daily in Argentina.

-La Jornada - #3 daily in México.

Bloomberg México - Major financial daily in Mexico.

TVE - #1 TV network in Spain and widely watched in the US and Latin America.

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SOCIAL MEDIA & PUBLICATION STATISTICS

MEDIA/LEADER GUIDED TOURS

FL designed, organized and hosted groups of media and/or leaders in Israel for

partnering organizations. Such partnerships enable FL to cultivate new relationships

with collaborating organization’s participants, while earning fee income for the agency.

Following provisions of services – aerial and ground tours, for example – FL adds each

journalist and leader to our roster, for ongoing follow-up and relationship building.

JCRC-NY Comptroller’s Mission to Israel (March) - NYC’s Jewish Community Relations

Council (JCRC) organized a mission to Israel for their Hispanic leaders, accommodating

specific requests such as: meeting with Latinos in Israel, arranging a full day on the

Gaza border (southern area, where majority of Latinos live), and meeting with Israeli

Latinos living in kibbutzim, under rocket fire.

Brazilian Helicopter Tours (June) – Twenty five (25) Brazilian journalists were in Israel,

participating in a three-week media seminar hosted by the International Institute of

Leadership Histadrut, a long-time FL partner. FL organized helicopter tours, providing a

birds eye view of Israel’s strategic security challenges and narrow waistline. The timing

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of the trip was critical: it took place following Brazil’s rejection of Israel’s

ambassadorial appointment of Danny Dayan.

Spanish Media Helicopter Tour (September) - Eight (8) journalists were in Israel

participating in a mission organized by the Israeli Embassy in Spain. FL organized

helicopter tours to offer them a birds-eye view of Israel’s strategic security challenges

and narrow waistline.

The International Institute’s Latin American Media Seminar (December) - FL

organized two briefings for 25 visiting Latin American journalists, the first with an

expert on Iran, and the second with Israel’s most influential Hispanic journalists. These

journalists were in Israel to attend a three-week media seminar hosted by the

International Institute of Leadership Histadrut.

REVENUE DIVERSIFICATION INITIATIVES

Fuente Latina has had prior success selling media production services as a means for

augmenting revenue and diversifying sources. We have been developing models to

bring incremental funding sources into the agency, while further diversifying revenue:

Production for Media - FL produced two Univision segments in 2016, for Chicago and

Miami. The first segment was produced for Univision Miami as a courtesy (Easter

Week in Israel), and led to the second. The Univision Chicago segment earned fees for

production services; it was on the topic “how life in Israel means living under constant

daily terror threats” – and won a TV Emmy in the hard news category.

Israel 21C in Spanish – Over the last year, FL has been contracted by the on-line news

and features magazine Israel 21C, to translate articles from English to Spanish for its

new Spanish language website. FL earns a monthly fee for our services.

J-Vida Program (Jewish Life)- J-Vida is a tailored communication strategy for Jewish

Community Relation Councils (JCRCs) and Federations in close proximity to large Latino

populations. J-Vida is designed to provide members with services based upon their

subscription level. FL incorporates the needs of J-Vida members into daily media

searches, identifying articles appropriate to J-Vida members’ markets, to support them

in performing Hispanic outreach to Spanish speaking residents and media. FL

developed the J-Vida model thanks to a seed grant from UpStart Bay Area.

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Production for the Israeli Foreign Ministry and Jewish Federations - Fuente Latina has

been contracted by the Israeli Foreign Ministry and the Jewish Federation of Spain to

organize and manage missions. FL conducted 6 such missions in 2016.

LATIN AMERICAN MEDIA TOUR: IRAN & HEZBOLLAH

In May, Fuente Latina (FL) revealed the ongoing influence of Iran and Hezbollah in

Latin America to major media outlets in Peru, Brazil and Argentina. Our briefings about

Iran’s activities triggered debate in Peru’s parliament and affected media coverage

regionally.

FL facilitated over 35 media interviews (13 in Peru) for top tier media outlets in the

region with Joseph M. Humire, a Washington DC-based counterterrorism analyst

specializing in Iran’s reach in Latin America. Humire exposed Iran’s influence in the

region to CNN, La Nación (Argentina), Fohla de Sao Paolo (Brazil), La República (Peru),

and others.

Humire discussed the findings of his recent report, After Nisman: How the death of a

prosecutor revealed Iran's growing influence in the Americas, an investigation and

analysis of thousands of documents about the 1994 bombing of the AMIA Jewish

cultural center in Buenos Aires that killed 85 people and injured hundreds more - the

worst terror attack on Argentinian soil.

The impact of the tour was swift, as press interviews sparked a public political debate

in Peru’s Congress concerning the presence of Hezbollah. The debate resulted in an

important TV news piece, published June 19, about the registration of “The Party of

God” in Peru as a political party.

An English language exclusive of Humire’s report was published in The Wall Street

Journal.

Following the tour, Humire was invited by the Peruvian Ministry of Interior to testify in

front of the Peruvian Congress about the presence of Hezbollah in their country.

The tour provided FL with the opportunity to establish relations with several new

journalists and follow up with at least 10, in Brazil and Argentina, from previous

missions. FL will bring the new Peruvian media contacts to Israel on future missions.

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U. S. HISPANIC FOCUS GROUPS IN MIAMI

In March, FL commissioned Bendixen & Amandi International to conduct two focus

groups in Miami, to research attitudes and perceptions of Israel, the Middle East, and

the Jewish community. The process was designed to introduce the topic alongside

other issues in the world, in order to get a true “blind read” of the subject by

respondents: non-Jewish Hispanics who are voting U.S. citizens. The ultimate purpose

of the focus groups was to determine respondent perceptions of Israel, Iran and other

players in the Middle East.

Main Results: The focus groups indicated that Miami Hispanics: a) generally support

Israel over the Palestinians; and b) greatly fear the “threat of terrorism” – noteworthy

results, as they speak to the inclinations of the fastest growing demographic in the U.S.

Fuente Latina developed messaging based upon the focus group results, which we

subsequently used for:

Partner Training (new and existing) - Women’s International Zionist Organization

(WIZO) has a particularly strong South Florida membership, with a large

proportion of Jewish Hispanics. Fuente Latina conducted a formal full-day

training session to “test drive” media messaging for its Spanish-speaking board

members (20 individuals), and included the services of a professional media

trainer, camera equipment/crew and journalists.

Media Training – for 10 local experts who regularly conduct interviews with the

South Florida Hispanic press.

Briefing Sessions – for Israeli leaders at: a) U.S. Consulates, including Miami

(Israeli Consul General, Media Advisor, Community Outreach Director), Los

Angeles, New York, Chicago, Texas, and Washington DC. b) Honorary Consulates

(15) from Central America, including Panama, Guatemala and Honduras, and

across South America (Venezuela, Colombia). c) Personalized briefings in Israel

(by FL Executive Director with -Members of Parliament: Former U.S. Ambassador

and Deputy Minister for Diplomacy Michael Oren (Kulanu), Deputy Speaker

Nachman Shai (Labor) and Haim Jelin (Yesh Atid); -Foreign Ministry: Heads of

North America Desk and Public Diplomacy, and senior members of the Public

Diplomacy team; -Ministry of Strategic Affairs: Head of Strategic Affairs, senior

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staff members, and Head of Public Diplomacy at the Prime Minister’s Office.

AIPAC Partnership – which effectuated the ouster of an incumbent Miami state

senator (District 40, an 80% Cuban district). Under the umbrella of Miami-based

civil rights group Dream Defenders, Palestinians had paid for Senator Bullard’s

trip to Ramallah, during which he was photographed with a member of the

Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, an organization on the State

Department's list of designated terrorist organizations for the murders of Israelis.

AIPAC contacted Fuente Latina to help educate District 40 residents about

Bullard’s terrorist ties. To explain the nature of the Palestinian terrorist group

and threats to Miami Hispanics, FL brought in the experts, planned the right

blend of media, (television and radio shows), produced fact sheets using the

message “threat of terrorism”, and other activities (interviews, stories) to suit

the Cuban audience. In tandem with AIPAC, which covered the political end,

Fuente Latina managed media and communications. State Senator Bullard lost

his bid for reelection.

ORGANIZATIONAL RESULTS

Budget – Revenues are higher than previous years, and expenses are being managed

more closely. In 2016, FL raised a total of $1,211,222 (an 83% increase vs. 2015),

comprised of $734,568 for Israel operations (includes Madrid office) and $476,654 for

the Miami office/operations, which did not exist previously.

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Year-over-year: missions increased by 100% and there was a 61% increase in the number of

journalists on missions.

*SEE 2016 YEAR-END BUDGET for the full report (see attached)

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Fundraising Events/Tours – Highlights included fundraising tours in three Texas cities, and

events in Miami, New York, Chicago and St. Louis. The Texas and Miami events resulted in an

increase in small gifts, totalling $12,000. One event in New York brought in a new donor and

$15,000 gift. All donors will be added to FL’s donor database, to grow through donor

development.

Leadership Events - FL participated in events as both presenter and as participant.

FL’s Miami Director presented focus group results to 200 community leaders and press at

Reconnecting 2016: Invigorating Jewish-Latino Heritage (September), to all Israeli consuls and

media advisors across the U.S. at the Israeli Diplomat Seminar in Miami (September), and to 15

honorary consuls from Central and South America during the Israeli Honorary Consuls in

LATAM and the Caribbean Conference (October).

We also attended a number of conferences, including an international conference organized

by the Ministry of Strategic Affairs for all pro-Israel groups in Israel (January); the Hispanicize

Conference, the largest annual digital content creation event for Latino trendsetters and

newsmakers, in Miami (April); Annual Global Forum on Anti-Semitism, held for the first-time in

Buenos Aires, Argentina (July); and The National Hispanic Association of Hispanic Journalist

conference in Washington, DC (August).

MIAMI OPERATIONS

Funding - As of Dec. 31, 2016, $476,654 was pledged for the Miami office, an increase

of 149% vs. prior year. The three major funders of the Miami office include:

SOMETHING NEW, like sources. For example: Through outreach presentations,

“parlor” events and aggressive research for new grant funding, the Miami office

brought 10-12 new funders in, and deepened relationships with approximately 8

current donors.

Key Miami Office successes in 2016 include:

Op-Eds - Placed 17 Op-eds in Miami’s top 3 largest newspapers/online news

portals: El Nuevo Herald (circ. 500K), Diario de las Americas (c. 150K) and

Univision.com (>3 million unique monthly viewers), exceeding the goal of 10 op-

eds by 70%.

Interviews - Facilitated 14 TV segments/expert interviews; 53 radio interviews

with local and nationally syndicated stations; 109 articles published in digital

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media outlets, surpassing the goal (60 in 12 months) two-fold.

Meetings - Met with 120 media executives and journalists representing 70

different media outlets, vs. the goal of 50 meetings (140% of goal). Highlights

include: a) Univision – Editorial board members, top producers for the national

news programs and Miami local (Univision 23) and VP of News, Patsy Lori; b)

Telemundo – Number 1 news anchor Jose Diaz Balart, new VP of News Luis

Fernandez who agreed to take all pitch ideas from FL; c) Spanish Broadcasting

System - CEO/Chair Raul Alarcon, Jr., one of the largest radio owner-operators in

the U.S.; d) America Teve TV – Network President Carlos Vasallo, VP Emilio

Braun, GM Miguel Cossio, anchor Juan Manuel Cao, producer of news show "el

Espejo" Ana Olema, news producer Orion Brito, newscasters Adriana Navarro

and Rene Pedrosa, news editor Jorge Morejon; e) Mega TV – Top TV personality

Oscar Haza, host of “Ahora con Oscar Haza”, and the show’s producer Hernan

Yanes; f) El Nuevo Herald Newspaper – Opinion Editor Andres Hernandez; g)

Diario de Las Americas Newspaper – DLA editor Osmin Martinez;and h)

Production: Univision Noticias (News), the #1 Spanish language U.S. news show,

headquartered in and produced from Miami, and averaging 2 million viewers

daily, which subsequently contracted FL to produce 4 news segments during its

visit to Israel during Easter week.

Government Relations - Presented FL to 11 local officials including two Members

of Congress: Hon. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Hon. Mario Diaz-Balart, besting the

Goal (10).

Focus Groups - Conducted 2 sessions with non-Jewish U.S. Latinos in Miami.

Events - Hosted 5 major events featuring key speakers: Israel’s new Miami Consul

Lior Hayat, Former Foreign Minister Dany Ayalon, MK Ronen Hoffman (Yesh Atid)

and MK Shareen Haskel (Likud), two more than goal.

Religious Outreach - Met with 5 South Florida synagogues and churches that

resulted in Shabbat and Sunday presentations by FL staff.

Evangelical Outreach - Participated in the annual Exploit16 Conference, the

largest Evangelical Christian Latino conference in the U.S. FL sponsored a

breakfast event for approximately 100 Christian journalists and media leaders.

FL’s Evangelical alumni journalists addressed the crowd, stating that their Israel

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trip with FL was “the most important thing after Jesus” and changed their lives.

Results: a) the owner of Christian Broadcasting Network (world’s largest Christian

Spanish media content producers) asked FL to enter a media partnership

arrangement; and b) Genesis FM (Central Florida’s largest Christian Latino FM

radio station) expressed interest in having FL assist its primary content provider.

LOOKING FORWARD January – June 2017

Major programs and events planned for the first half of 2017 include:

Israeli PM Netanyahu’s First Official Visit to Latin America - Netanyahu will visit

Mexico, Colombia and possibly Panama or Chile sometime in 2017. Once dates are

confirmed, FL will work with the top media contacts in those countries to strategically

place positive Israel stories in the run-up to his visit.

Production Assistance for Univision and Telemundo - FL will be producing paid

content for Univision and Telemundo related to Israeli security in the early months of

2017, to be viewed by millions of U.S. Latinos.

Los Angeles Latino Focus Groups - FL is working to secure funding to conduct two

focus group sessions in Los Angeles County, which has the largest Latino population of

any county in the nation, to test which Israel messages work best in California.

Media Tours – FL will conduct a Hispanic media tour in the U.S. (April) featuring Israel’s

Spanish-speaking Knesset member, Haim Jalin (Yesh Atid). FL will facilitate media

interviews with press in California, Texas and Miami for his first media tour to America.

Latino Media Missions - FL has secured funding to bring 4 missions to Israel: U.S.

Hispanic west coast journalists (co-hosted with MFA), U.S. Hispanic west coast

journalists (March), U.S. Hispanic journalists nationwide (May), Argentine/Mexican

journalist mission (June).

Gay Pride 2017 - FL has reached out to Israeli Embassies and Jewish communities in

Latin America to offer Latino LGBTQ media and leadership missions to Israel for Gay

Pride week in June. So far, communities from Spain, Mexico and Chile have signed on.

Nisman Case (Argentina)/Iran in Latin America - Argentina recently reopened

Nisman’s corruption case against former President Cristina Kirchner. FL’s Iran expert,

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Joseph Humire, will be advising the Argentina government regarding Nisman’s

evidence in this case; Nisman was murdered the night before turning state’s evidence.

FL is working with a group currently analyzing intelligence related to Iran’s illicit

activities in Argentina and the region. FL will be facilitating ongoing media work in

relation to Cristina’s dealings with Iran and Nisman’s death. FL will also take Iran-Latin

American expert Humire to Mexico (April) to conduct interviews about Iran and

Hezbollah with top press.

Media Training with Focus Group Results - As part of FL’s 2016 focus group follow up,

FL will work with local South Florida organizations such as WIZO, Hadassah and

Federation to conduct media training workshops for key Spanish-speaking lay leaders.

Miami Office - FL is seeking a Social Media & Content Manager, and hopes to hire this

position prior to the end of the 2nd Quarter 2017. The position will be responsible for

bilingual social media engagement and material tailored to the South Florida/U.S.

Hispanic audience.

Visit us on fuentelatina.org