María Teresa Kumar is the founding President and CEO of Voto Latino and an Emmynominated contributor with MSNBC. Under her leadership, Voto Latino has become a key factor in national elections by registering over half a million voters and garnered several prestigious awards including several Promax Gold and Webby Honorees. Fast Company named her among the most 100 Creative Minds in business. In 2013, Elle Magazine named her one of the 10 most influential women in Washington, DC. Hispanic Business named her among the 100 most influential Latinos in America and Hispanic Executive named her among the top 10 most influential Latinos in the country. HBO’s Celebrity Habla and PBS’s Undergraduates have profiled her work. Maria Teresa co-Chaired the Aspen Task Force on Connected Learning. The Imagen Foundation, HOPE, Hispanic Heritage Foundation, and DEMOS are among the organizations that have recognized her leadership.

She is a frequent guest analyst on NPR and PBS, a panelist on Bill Maher’s HBO show, an opinion writer for national publications, and a sought after speaker at major conferences including GE, Prudential, Intel, SXSW, NetRoots Nation, Personal Democracy Forum, and TEDx.

María Teresa serves on the national boards of EMILY’s List, Planned Parenthood Federation and the Latino Leaders Network. She is a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader, a Hunt Alternative Fund Prime Mover, an Aspen Institute Scholar and a Council on Foreign Relations Lifetime Member.

She started her career as a legislative aide for then-Democratic Caucus Chair Vic Fazio, and graduated from Harvard’s Kennedy School and the University of California at Davis. When not in DC, Maria Teresa travels with her husband Raj Kumar and their two babes Lucia Mercedes and Eduardo.