How Agencies Across the US Are Marking Hispanic Heritage Month
Running from September 15th to October 15th each year, National Hispanic Heritage Months is an opportunity for the United States to recognise and celebrate the contributions of Hispanic and Latine culture to the nation.
It's also an important event on the internal calendars of agencies, with an array of events, classes and education highlighting the pertinent work of agency employee resource groups (ERG).
To find out more specifically how businesses within advertising in the US marked Hispanic Heritage Month, LBB's Addison Capper caught up with a whole bunch of them.
David&Goliath
Andrea Vega, Latinx ERG president and associate creative director
At D&G, we are committed to celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month with authenticity and genuine community involvement. This year, we’ll focus on highlighting the diverse cultures within the Hispanic community through events organised by our Latin ERG, showcasing the vibrancy and richness of our heritage. One of the exciting events we’ll host is a lotería night, where prizes from Hispanic artists and artisans will be featured. It’s a way to honour the creativity within our community while bringing people together for a fun, meaningful experience.
We’ll also have a themed party called ‘Drinking Around LATAM’, where cocktails from various Latin American countries will be served, crafted by Latinx bartenders. This event is all about exploring and savouring the different flavours from across the region while supporting Latinx talent in the hospitality industry.
Beyond our in-person events, we will be sharing a weekly newsletter called ‘Somos Brave’, which will dive deeper into Latinx culture. The newsletter will cover everything from music and art to fashion and food, offering our employees and community a way to stay engaged and learn more about the cultural contributions of the Hispanic and Latinx communities.
In addition to ‘Somos Brave’, we’ve launched ‘Heritage Lessons’ on D&G’s Instagram @davidandgoliath. This content series features lessons learned from our employees' diverse cultures, sharing their personal experiences and insights. It’s a way to spotlight the different cultural perspectives that make up the D&G family, creating a sense of unity while celebrating individuality.
For us at D&G, Hispanic Heritage Month is about more than just celebration—it’s about education, community, and truly embracing the diversity that makes us stronger.
Droga5
Irma Perez, senior brand strategist
In honour of Latine Heritage Month, SOMOS, Droga5’s Latine ERG, is proudly embracing the theme, ‘Redefining the Collective’. This year’s celebrations are all about reconciling intergenerational differences, and bringing together the old and new vanguard in various facets of Latine culture.
Building upon our previous themes, this year’s focus reflects how younger generations are redefining what it means to be Latine in America today–navigating the world as 100% American and 100% Latine. Throughout this month, we hope to inspire all to find new ways and spaces to bridge the gap between community and individualism with an exciting line-up of interactive, educational, and fun experiences.
Our Corkboard Series spotlights Latine artists, authors, designers, photographers, and creatives that tackle important yet often taboo subjects within our culture, such as mental health. Our upcoming Halloween Happy Hour will be a lively celebration full of coconut mojitos, empanadas and pastelitos featuring traditional games, such as dominoes. We’ll culminate our celebrations with a Día de los Muertos ofrenda, a vibrant tradition that celebrates and honours all parts of life, notably death. Similar to last year, this year’s ofrenda will pay tribute to icons from the entertainment and music industries, including the legendary Walter Mercado and Juan Gabriel.
Looking ahead, we’re excited to extend our Latine Heritage Month festivities with an upcoming radio show that explores how intergenerational differences have shaped the Latin music landscape.
In the past, SOMOS has hosted a variety of events, including comedy shows, film director panels, game nights, food tours, and a Despierta Droga Content Series.
FCB Chicago
Jorge Bauzá, creative director
Hispanic Heritage Month is an important time for us because it marks a time to celebrate the rich cultural contributions of our people. It also allows us, as employees with Hispanic backgrounds, to come together and celebrate what unites us and offers a moment of recognition and validation in the workplace, where we can talk and share our unique perspectives and journeys.
Our Employee Resource Group in Chicago, Sabor, is proud to serve its role as a dedicated space for Hispanic employees to connect, share their experiences, and foster a sense of community that goes beyond Hispanic Heritage Month. By creating opportunities for dialogue, mentorship, and cultural exchange, we aim to promote inclusivity and understanding across the agency. We aim to amplify our voices and ensure that all our members feel empowered to feel like they have a space to call their own.
Turning FCB's coffee bar into FCBodega was more than just a cool activation for Hispanic Heritage Month. Walking into your workplace and listening to your music playing while ordering a cortadito or a café abuelita while eating a snack like alfajores, conchas or mazapan does more to your spirit than you can imagine. Going beyond music, food and drinks, Sabor held an amazing conversation in our safe space event called Mesa Redonda where mentors and leadership shared their journey as Hispanics in the industry and members were able to share their feelings with the group and learn about different techniques to deal with imposter syndrome and being a Hispanic in the US. It was a celebration that enriched our mind, body, and soul.
FCB New York
FCB New York is honouring Hispanic Heritage Month with a series of gatherings throughout the month. These events are taking place every Thursday during our TTT (‘That Thursday Thing’), our weekly meeting at the office, where the teams present ‘crush’ campaigns, recognise team achievements, and share agency announcements.
We kicked off the activities with the official launch of our Employee Resource Group (ERG) ‘Vida’, which brings together talent from across the region with the goal of celebrating the joy, union and boldness of our cultures through the brand. Just like we bring Vida into everything we do.
In the following weeks, we are recognising dancing expressions in a salsa class, featuring a ‘Feliz Cumpleaños’ party to toast those celebrating birthdays this month, and to conclude the month, we are excited to welcome FCB global CCO Andrés Ordoñez, who will discuss his career journey, the importance of providing opportunities for diverse cultures. The team is already engaged in some questions.
All of these gatherings feature food and drinks from various countries, including Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Venezuela, and many others from Central America.
Johannes Leonardo
At JL, the Hispanics in the office led the charge of Hispanic Heritage Month celebrations, which led to a slew of nostalgic foods and music from breakfast through dinner.
We kicked off with a spread of coffee and 10/10 conchas from local Hell’s Kitchen shop, Leon Bakery Mexican Restaurant, set to the tune of a curated playlist from our Hispanic/LatinX community.
Around the office, educational posters highlighted influential Hispanic/LatinX figures from all walks of life to read-up on throughout the day.
Celebrations continued in the afternoon, supporting more local Hispanic/LatinX-owned businesses beyond the agency walls as we loaded up on catering for dinner from Tajin, paired with a very hands-on flour tortilla-making class led by our executive creative director, Hunter Hampton, which quickly had the JL kitchen looking like a winter wonderland of flour, and evolved into more of a test kitchen for tortillas mixed with office snacks. The atrocities committed with Babybel were chilling.
Hunter says, “This went from stressful as hell to something I’m itching for an excuse to do again. The recipe is so simple, but one of those I’ll always tragically never compare to my mom’s outcome. So it brought a lot of joy seeing everyone else’s struggle and getting to feel like the expert in the room. Kidding, partially. We make so many things together but rarely in this way, getting our hands dirty as hell, helping each other drink when the other’s hands are too dirty to touch a glass, teaching our tricks, and sharing a sliver of our heritage. Kitchens are cheat codes to getting closer. It’s a shame this is the only thing I’m remotely capable of in the kitchen, but hoping for something similar from someone else soon.”
Mariah Sanchez, social strategist, adds, “My favourite part of our festivities (besides the food ‘cause, duh) was showcasing the diversity within our community. Too often, we're boxed into narrow stereotypes, but our educational posters are not only a reminder of the incredible impact our people have had on the world but also give everyone a chance to see the vast range of shapes, sizes, and colours that make up Hispanic/LatinX culture. In advertising especially, we tend to default to one idea of what Hispanic/LatinX looks like, but in reality, our community is too expansive to fit into a single mould.”
Leo Burnett
Melissa Healy, SVP, employee belonging & participation lead
Leo Burnett is gearing up to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month with The Joy Series! This concert series was inspired by the powerful quote, ‘Joy is an act of resistance’, attributed to both Toi Derricotte and Audre Lorde. We’re now in our fourth year of spreading joy! The first concert took place in February 2021, right in the middle of covid, as people were grappling with identity and the inequities around them. Life was tough, the cultural reckoning was intense, and work felt like an endless loop of video calls. The Joy Series was born to counter all of that, by celebrating our talent and their rich heritages. Music is such a beautiful way to bring people together—it moves us, lifts us, and offers those sparks of joy that we all need. Over the years, we’ve featured 40 artists, reached thousands of Publicis Groupe employees worldwide, and reinvested around $70,000 into Chicago’s performance community. We do this with the partnership of our friends at Squeak E Clean Studios.
The Joy Series has become a vehicle for Leo Burnett to celebrate culture and community inside and outside our four walls and this month, we’re thrilled to feature KAINA, marking our 40th Joy Series concert! KAINA creates music that transcends generations and borders, a seamless blend of her native Chicago with her Venezuelan and Guatemalan roots. Her latest album, 'It Was A Home,' explores themes of community and self-reflection, all while pushing the boundaries of production and songwriting. She’s at the forefront of a movement of artists who centre their work around identity and representation, having toured nationally with big names like Sleater-Kinney, Cuco, and Durand Jones & The Indications. Her music, rich with love, legacy, and ancestry, perfectly embodies what The Joy Series is all about!
McCann New York
Mi Gente, McCann New York’s newly rebranded Latinx employee resource group, brought the fire for Hispanic Heritage Month with a series of events throughout September and October. With the goal of highlighting the strength and resilience of Latinx heritage, while also celebrating the diversity and strength within our communities, our ERG put together programming focused on connection, culture, and empowerment.
We started with Salsa 101, where our employees got to dive into the vibrant history of salsa music, learning the rhythms and moves that light up dance floors worldwide. We also hosted a happy hour for the agency, featuring a live performance by Grupo Warachando, delivering an electrifying mix of salsa, merengue, bachata, and more. Of course, no celebration would have been complete without some mouth-watering Latin cuisine and drinks – we brought in Cocina Del Sur in support of our local community businesses! Finally, we partnered with The Agenda, McCann’s LGBTQIA+ employee resource group, for a fierce kickboxing class at HAVEN Boxing, a queer, women, and POC-owned space to close out our heritage month.
Monks
Kate Richling, CMO
The most recent edition of Monks’ ongoing virtual event series, ‘Culture Kickback’, celebrated Hispanic Heritage Month, with the The Kickback team welcoming special guests Studio D-18 to share their vibrant work. Studio D-18 guided attendees through their experience of opening a photo studio in the Buey and Vaca Flea Market in the heart of Houston, a unique location that has allowed them to forge authentic connections with the community through a visual and emotive lens. Founders Dario De Leon and Max Hummels shared their work and opened a discussion on documenting multigenerational celebrations, cultural pride, and the role of food in connecting the Latine community. You can read more about them in their recent write up in The Houston Chronicle.
Additionally, this month’s edition of the Monks DE&I newsletter featured a curated list of some fantastic reads, films, and Latiné-owned businesses to explore this month. Mexican Gothic blends horror and suspense following a young woman’s journey to uncover dark secrets in a mysterious Mexican mansion in the ‘50s. Yesika Salgado’s poetry captures the heart of Latine culture, love, and identity, exploring themes of body positivity, family, and resilience. Watch Roma, a story that chronicles a tumultuous year in the life of a middle-class family in Mexico City in the early 1970s. Latine-owned businesses featured in the newsletter included Bella Doña LA, a Los Angeles-based brand celebrating Latine culture through bold, nostalgic fashion and accessories, and Paisa Boys, a streetwear brand blending Latine pride and urban style with distinctive, culturally inspired designs. Los Angeles dining recommendations included Sonoratown, which specialises in northern Mexican cuisine, famous for its handmade flour tortillas and mesquite-grilled meats. And for a taquería, try Tacos 1986 known for its authentic, street-style tacos.
Mother LA
Karina Alvarez and Mike Hernandez, Las Razas co-leads
Las Razas looks to bring the Latino cultures to agency life by sharing the music that brings its members joy, the foods that remind them of family, and the art that shows their perspectives throughout the month. While we all come from different backgrounds, we strive to create a sense of family within the group by bonding over our shared experiences of being Latino. We host a music takeover every lunch to share genres that may have been playing at our family parties, like salsa, tejano, and samba. We also organised a 'Cafe con Pan' event where we provided Cuban cafecito, pan dulce and pao de queijo. Finally, we're ending the month with an agency happy hour to bring everyone together in a celebration that includes even more food, music, classic games, and drinks!
MullenLowe
Jacqueleen Johnson, director of development and inclusion
At MullenLowe, Hispanic Heritage Month is symbolic of a year-round celebration of the many contributions made by the Hispanic and Latino community. At an agency that exists to be a challenger in the creative space, we’ve embraced the HHM platform by spotlighting Hispanic and Latino talent who’ve challenged and inspired our creative industries.
All month long, we’re locking arms with our JUNTOS ERG group in honouring those contributions by supporting Hispanic and Latino owned businesses and sharing opportunities for employees to get involved in local HHM events to build empathy and community that goes beyond our walls.
Ogilvy
Ayannah Johnson, sr director, inclusion & strategic ops, NA
For this year’s Hispanic Heritage Month at Ogilvy, our inclusion team, together with the Ogilvy Community’s Latiné/Hispanic members, embraced the intersection of ‘Borderless Creativity and Fearless Inclusion’ to craft a series of events that reflect the diversity within the Latiné/Hispanic community. This year’s theme, ‘Different, Together’, highlights the cultural, racial, and linguistic richness of the community, while emphasising the importance of unity through diversity.
The team curated programming and interactive experiences that celebrated Latiné/Hispanic talent and heritage —from an insightful panel discussion on ‘Representing Latinidad in Culture and Media’, featuring notable figures like journalist Janel Martinez, author Sulma Arzu-Brown, and Broadway star Ana Villafañe, to interactive salsa lessons and flavourful lunches from Latinx-owned businesses. Each event was designed to engage, inspire, and celebrate.
We wrapped up the celebrations with a vibrant happy hour featuring delicacies from local Latinx vendors, including paletas from La Newyorkina and picadas from El Castillo de Jagua.
This year’s programming was created not only to showcase the breadth of talent within the Latiné/Hispanic community but also to foster connection and celebration, honouring the unique blend of experiences that make us ‘Different, Together’. Each cultural celebration served as a testament to the power of elevating diverse stories and fostering meaningful connections, which lies at the core of Ogilvy’s values.
SKDK
Mariel Sáez, executive vice president, and executive sponsor of the SOMOS ERG
At SKDK, a Stagwell agency, the SOMOS Employee Resource Group proudly celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month. While we recognise the contributions of the Latino community year-round, we use this month as a special opportunity to elevate Latino leaders, support Latino-owned businesses in DC and NY, and showcase the incredible Latino talent at the firm – both in staff meetings and firm gatherings as well as externally through digital campaigns. I am proud to lead our SOMOS ERG and to be a part of a firm that values and celebrates the rich diversity and heritage of the Hispanic and Latino communities.
The SOMOS Employee Resource Group fosters a welcoming and inclusive environment for individuals of Latino, Latina, Latinx, Hispanic, Afro-Latino, Caribbean-Latino, Mestizo, and Indigenous identities at SKDK, Sloane & Company, and Jasper Advisors. 'Somos' means 'we are', and this ERG aims to bring together employees from a diverse range of Spanish-speaking backgrounds.
TBWA\Chiat\Day LA
We’re celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month with a flavourful feast showcasing an array of authentic dishes from the heart of local Hispanic communities. We enjoyed savoury empanadas in eight flavours from Argentina, chicken coxinhas and beef risoles from Brazil, a selection of fish panades, bean and cheese panades, and garnaches from Belize, papas rellenas from Cuba, and tacos and churros from Mexico. This event served as a delicious tribute to the vibrant cultures, traditions, and stories that come alive through food.
TBWA\Chiat Day New York
As Hispanic Heritage Month wraps up at TBWA\Chiat\Day New York, our OAXE Latine Employee Resource Group has hosted an incredible celebration honouring the rich cultures and diversity from all over Latin America. The festivities have been a delightful showcase of flavours, sounds, and traditions that make these cultures so special.
We kicked things off with a mouthwatering breakfast featuring pan dulce and Mexican hot chocolate from Don Paco Lopez restaurant. Our monthly coffee offering included 787 Coffee which works with small farms in Maricao Puerto Rico to bring sustainable coffee to the States. Our Happy Hours were filled with music and celebration, we featured beer and spirits from Colombia, Haiti, Peru, and Brazil. Our tasting tour ended with a catered lunch that featured cuban staples like sweet plantains and empanadas along with Venezuelan arepas.
We also enjoyed a fun domino game night hosted by @Capicunyc, where we shared the significance of this beloved game — a cherished tradition in many Latin households and enjoyed traditional Puerto Rican Coquito, brought by Coquiten.
It has been a joyful month of connection and cultural celebration, bringing our communities together to honour all of our Latin roots. From the foods, to the sharing of traditions and even our candy dish, we focused on learning and celebrating our beautiful tapestry of cultures.
The Martin Agency
Maria Jose (MJ) Cuyan, senior art director, ERG lead, Guatemalan-American
For Latine & Hispanic Heritage Month, Martín, Martin's ERG, wanted to create a lasting experience that went beyond just a single event and landed on the idea to create an activation inside The Martin Agency Richmond office for the month. As a result we created an homage to the tiendas and mercaditos that you see across Latin America with our twist, calling it El Mercadito Martín.
The mercadito takes inspiration from the convenience stores and mini-marts you see in Latine neighbourhoods all over the world. It’s central to our communities not only as a place to buy food but as welcoming space to gather.
The area was completely wrapped with a design that speaks to our culture using bright saturated colours, script-like type that you may see in old-school handwritten signs, and sprinkling in common motifs you’d see in and around mini-marts.
Additionally, the products used in the mercadito were authentic as well – stocking only snacks, candies, and drinks from across Latin America. Tortrix, Colombianas, Vero dulces and way more.
The space is free-flowing in the sense that anyone can stop by as they wish but it also has been a central location for any other LHHM related events for the month too, continuing the tradition of gathering at the local tiendita.
This was created as a collaboration between the talent and culture team and the ERG Martín. The TAC team were a huge piece in this – lifting up the Martín, staying curious to our ideas for what this could be, and leaning in to make sure it all felt authentic. The design department also helped a ton, allowing the team to take an existing design from previous work and give it new life.
TEAM
Ted Celaya, VP of human resources, constellation network – experiential division at Stagwell
Stagwell’s TEAM is excited to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month with two dynamic events that honour the unique cultures and spirit of the Hispanic community. Our first event is a live virtual cooking class with Chef and Premium Rums Ambassador, Eddie Zamora. He’ll share his twist on traditional Latin appetisers, showcasing the delicious culinary traditions that connect us across the Americas. Additionally, we’ll have an optional rum cocktail pairing demo to keep things interactive and festive!
The celebration continues with an in-person cultural gathering at Café La Trova, right in the heart of Miami’s Little Havana, a neighbourhood known for its Hispanic heritage. This gathering will bring everyone together to enjoy Latin-inspired appetisers, craft cocktails, and music that captures the lively energy of Latin America and the Caribbean. This gathering is all about coming together to celebrate our shared values of resilience, community, and cultural pride.
These events celebrate the diverse traditions of the Hispanic community and reflect our commitment to inclusion, unity, and shared appreciation across all communities within TEAM.
VML
Tasha Gilroy, chief belonging officer
VML Somos ERG put together a full month of programming, examples include: a Salsa Class, ‘Our Stories Our Voices’ – exploring the power of Latino storytelling, and a Bachata class. The theme is ‘Presencia’ – which means the act of being present, embodies the essence of making yourself known, and embracing your goals with confidence and pride.
It is a celebration of showing up as your authentic self, advocating for your space, and uplifting others to embrace our shared heritage.
Rooted in our cultures (yes, plural!), Presencia reflects the spirit of ‘si se puede’ (you can do it!) by living in the present with purpose, embracing every opportunity, and striving towards dreams and resilience. It calls for bringing your best self to every moment, knowing that your voice and presence matter, in work and in life.
It can be difficult to embrace parts of our identity in professional settings, but Presencia is about ensuring that Latine culture is recognised and honoured, not just during Hispanic-Latine Heritage Month but throughout the year.
