2019 Clemson Men of Color National Summit: Keynote speaker Ronald Estrada

Univision Communications’s Ronald Estrada closed the two-day 2019 Clemson University Men of Color National Summit by sharing a toolkit of secrets and tips for success that attendees could take home.

Estrada, senior vice president for corporate social responsibility and community empowerment at Univision, encouraged the 400 high school students in attendance to develop their emotional intelligence, take chances and build connections.

He described the mission at Univision as a “desire to empower Hispanic youth by enabling our communities to thrive and enrich their minds, their health and their cultural connections.”

“Take the connections you’ve made with one another,” he said. “Because you never know when we’re going to need each other. Now – right now – we have the power and power is in uniting. It’s in community.”

The two-day conference at the Greenville Convention Center is dedicated to closing the achievement gap for African-American and Hispanic males.

This year mark’s the third year of bringing together 2,000 experts, educators, thought leaders and students from across the nation to share ideas, discuss what works and doesn’t work and to consider what hasn’t yet been tried.

Estrada encouraged the students to spark change and shatter stereotypes.

“This room is community. We’re all one community here. The unity we’ve experienced here has been tremendous and this community cannot end today,” he said. “Let’s see what happens. Let’s make some noise. It’s going freak people out.”

Estrada told each of them to volunteer in a community organization. Volunteering leads to committee opportunities, which can lead to an invitation to join the board where you develop networks with important business leaders.

“Using our minds and the power, the sky’s the limit,” he said. “I live for the impact. I live for the opportunity. If you’re going to do something (ask yourself) what’s the impact? I can’t think of a larger impact than this summit right here.”

In closing, Estrada said, “Go out and make your own stories. Go out and have an impact.”