The Philadelphia chapter of the American Jewish Committee (AJC) will be holding two events in May that promote and recognize Latino achievement.

First, on May 2, the organization will honor Romulo Díaz with the 2018 Community Leadership Award. Diaz, who serves as vice president and general counsel for PECO, has been an active member of AJC Philadelphia’s Latino-Jewish Coalition since the group’s founding in 2013.

(Last year, Diaz was one of four recipients of the Hispanic Heritage Award from AL DÍA News. To check out his story, click here.)

Speaking with AL DÍA, AJC Philadelphia’s Regional Director Marcia Bronstein explained the purpose of the Latino-Jewish Coalition.

“The mission is to use collaborative relationships and expand interactions on issues that are important to both of our communities,” Bronstein said, naming immigration reform, economic empowerment, civic engagement, foreign policy, homeland-diaspora relations and philanthropy.

Furthering that mission, the coalition will host on Tuesday, May 15, a Latino-Jewish Entrepreneurial Summit from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m at the Fox School of Business at Temple University.

Bronstein said the organization conceived the idea for the summit because of the reality that Latinos start businesses more than most other groups, but often do not achieve the same level of success. In light of this, the summit will focus on the challenges entrepreneurs face in growing and scaling their businesses.

Alan Weisleder, a native of Costa Rica and a partner in the Jerusalem-based venture capital firm OurCrowd, will deliver the keynote address at the event.

In addition, a panel discussion will feature the insights and perspectives of local successful entrepreneurs, including Wayne Kimmel, managing partner of SeventySix Capital; Anthony Lopez, CEO of Azzur Corporation; Nicole Marquis, CEO and founder of HipCityVeg Restaurants; and Manuel Trujillo, CEO and founder of Swain Technologies.

The discussion will be moderated by Ellen Weber, executive director of the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Institute at the Fox School of Business.

The Latino-Jewish Entrepreneurial Summit will take place at Alter Hall on Temple University’s main campus and the registration fee is $18. Anyone attending the event must RSVP by emailing philadelphia@ajc.org or calling 215-665-2300 by May 7.

To learn more about AJC Philadelphia, click here.