Jessica Alba continues her commitment to climate action, this time hosting the Latino Victory Project’s second annual Brunch Like a Madre rally to kick off the 2024 Vote Like a Madre campaign.
Vote Like a Madre is a nonpartisan program that works to educate the public about climate issues and increase Latina voter turnout. This year, it will invest more than $2 million in voter turnout. The event featured panels on the climate crisis and the impact of natural disasters and extreme weather on Latino communities across the United States.
“This is a big, big year… Voting as a Mother means channeling that Latina energy of someone who is the center of the family,” the actress said in her speech Monday. “You don't have to be a woman to channel that mother energy. We all need to protect this planet so we can protect each other. Literally, protecting the planet means protecting the human beings that live on this planet.”
She continued, “For too long we thought it was out of our hands, for too long we believed the lie that we couldn't do anything about it. What's a vote? What's one person? But it actually makes a huge difference… I've been working since I was 12. I figured out how to be an entrepreneur. I figured out how to create a business that had never been created before. Because I wanted to protect my children and all children. One person can make a difference.”
In her moving speech, Alba encouraged everyone at Gracias Madre restaurant in Los Angeles to use their channels and talk to their families to make sure they are registered to vote, because when they are all united, they can move mountains.
“I believe in us. I know this election year is a pivotal moment,” she said. “There's so much on the ballot, from climate change, to gun control, to – you name it – reproductive rights, the economy, everything. And we can make a difference. We can really create the future that we want to see.”
Attendees at the New Year’s brunch included Eva Longoria, co-founder of the Latino Victory Project, America Ferrera, Camila Cabello, Gloria Calderón Kellet, Karla Souza, Lin-Manuel Miranda and his mother, Dr. Luz Towns-Miranda, Michaela Jaé Rodriguez, Rosario Dawson, Rosie Perez, and Stephanie Beatriz.
According to Katharine Pichardo-Erskine, executive director of the Latino Victory Project, the 2024 campaign partnered with celebrities who most closely matched Vote Like a Madre’s target audience: Latina moms, who care about protecting their families and the environment.
The 2024 campaign is taking its efforts to the swing state of Arizona and hopes to create behavior-changing narratives that would increase Latina voter turnout by 15,000 through targeted ads featuring Latina mothers and mother figures encouraging their community to vote. It also includes social media challenges and partnerships with local Latina leaders for events and discussions on climate justice.
“Our strategy is data-driven,” said the executive director The Hollywood Reporter. “We're focusing on states where Latino voter turnout could impact the outcome of the election. In 2020, Latino voters played a decisive role in states like Nevada and Arizona, and we aim to replicate that impact in 2024.”
Nearly one in two Latino people in the United States live in counties with high levels of pollution, which has worsened asthma and other respiratory illnesses, the organization said in a press release. It added that current extreme weather events, such as devastating wildfires that have ravaged parts of the country and record-breaking heat waves, are a direct result of man-made pollution and unnatural disasters.
“Climate change is not a distant threat: Latinos are 165 percent more likely than non-Hispanic whites to live in areas affected by environmental disasters,” Pichardo-Erskine added. “Our campaign aims to make this issue personal, encouraging Latina moms to take action, not only for themselves but for future generations.”