Latinos Ready

Preparing Our Communities for the Next Public Health Emergency

Webinar

In-Person:

UTRGV Center for Innovation and Commercialization (CIC)
307 East Railroad St
Weslaco, TX 78596

April 9, 2025

10 AM CST/11 AM ET

Location

Virtual

Resources

Emergencies don’t wait—and neither should we. From hurricanes to public health threats, Latino communities are often hit first and hardest. This interactive, hands-on workshop will walk participants through real-world scenarios, tools, and culturally relevant strategies to strengthen emergency readiness at home and in the community.

Join health professionals, promotores, and partners from across the region to build your own preparedness toolkit, learn what to do before, during, and after a crisis, and leave with ready-to-use resources you can share with your family, neighbors, or organization.

Let’s make sure our communities are ready—not just to survive, but to thrive.

Learning Objectives:

Participants will:

Practice building an emergency preparedness plan tailored to Latino families and communities.
Identify the most common hazards in their region (e.g., hurricanes, floods, disease outbreaks).
Learn how to create a bilingual emergency kit and communication plan.
Work through real-world response scenarios in small groups (e.g., evacuation, sheltering, access to medication).
Receive culturally tailored outreach materials and templates to take back to their communities.

Speakers

Carlos Hernandez Torres

MD, FAAFP
Family Physician, Cascadia Health
Latino Leadership Council
Compassion & Choices

Website

Dedicated, resourceful and multifaceted physician with over 14 years of clinical
trajectory. I have strong primary care training and expertise, yet extensive
experience in multiple fields of medicine which include palliative care, hospice,
pain management and the management of addictive disorders. Being bilingual,
with Spanish being my native language, has given me an edge in connecting
with patients of multiple communities and backgrounds.

Carmen Martínez

Partnerships Manager
Centro de los Derechos del Migrante

Website

Carmen Martínez is CDM’s Partnerships Manager, where she manages external partnerships and develops strategic collaborations to advance CDM’s work. She graduated from Cornell University and holds a bachelor’s degree from the School of Industrial Relations, and has dedicated her career to advancing workers’ and civil rights for im/migrant workers. She’s a proud daughter of immigrant parents hailing from Jalisco, México.

Paulina Sosa

DrPH, MPH
President/Executive Director
Latinx Voces

Website

Dr. Paulina Sosa-Quintanilla is the Founder, President and Executive Director of Latinx Voces, a national nonprofit with the goal to amplify all Latino voices and achieve equity in health and cultural representation. Paulina has worked for more than 15 years in public health, including policy, advocacy, data analytics and community outreach. Her work has revolved around infectious disease transmission and epidemic/pandemic preparedness, including influenza and COVID-19. Paulina has also completed her doctorate in the DrPH Public Health Informatics program at Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, with a research focus on data informatics, dashboard development, and health equity.

Paulina has worked at the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) as the Lead Data Analyst in the Influenza team. She has worked with the American Journal of Public Health (AJPH), the American Public Health Association (APHA) COVID-19 Response Team, and the Access Smithsonian’s See Me program. Additionally, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Paulina provided consulting services for PAHO and other key partners in data, surveillance, and health communications.

Webinar Resources & Next Steps

Thank you for joining our webinar! Below you’ll find links to key resources and tools shared by each speaker, as well as ways to stay connected and get involved.