The 2025 Alsame Latino Youth Conference hosted by Oakland University was a huge success! The conference took place on May 9th in Rochester, Michigan, bringing nearly 300 students and 400 guests to Oakland’s campus.

Poppy Hernandez delivered the conference keynote address, and stayed to connect further with students and guests. In 2020, Governor Whitmer appointed Hernandez as the inaugural Chief Equity and Inclusion Officer in the Executive Office of the Governor. In addition to her role as the Chief EIO, she also serves as the Executive Director of the Office of Global Michigan supporting immigrant and refugee integration efforts across the state.

Adnoris “Bo” Torres and Santiago Gayton returned to the conference with the “Talking with the Tíos” podcast and all of the interviews can be found on the Alsame Facebook page. This is the third year in a row that The Tíos volunteer their time to engage with students, faculty, staff, and guests.

Doble V Entertainment, featuring Compa Bandit (Maximiliano) and Compa Prek (Oscar), returned as emcees and energized all guests from beginning to end. Maximiliano is a long-time Youth Conference volunteer and he and Oscar brought unmatched energy that motivated and energized all guests at the conference.

Baile Folklórico was a highlight of the conference, and we’re incredibly grateful to the group and to Veronica Beltrán for bringing such vibrant culture and energy to this year’s event. Thank you for your dedication and beautiful performance!

The College & Career fair was also a huge hit with students engaging with 25+ college and career representatives from all across Michigan.

• Academy of the Americas
• Carrollton High School
• Catholic Central High School
• Cesar Chavez High School
• El Concilio (Detroit)
• Godwin Heights High School
• Grand Rapids Catholic Central
• Lakeview High School (Battle Creek)
• Pontiac High School
• Saginaw United High School
• Union High School
• Voyageur College Prep High School
• Western International High School

We were honored to have such incredible workshop presenters whose insight, expertise, and—most importantly—passion made this conference possible. We are deeply grateful for their contributions. See the full list of presenters below—thank you!

A special thank you to Oakland University for hosting this year’s conference with special acknowledgement to the following departments:

• Oakland University College of Arts and Sciences
• Oakland University School of Business
• Oakland University School of Engineering and Computer Science
• Oakland University Office of the President
• Oakland School of Education and Human Services
• Oakland University School of Nursing
• Oakland University School of Music, Theater and Dance
• Oakland University School of Health Science
• Oakland University Honors College
• Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine
• Oakland University Office of the Provost
• Oakland University Latinx ERG
• Oakland University Student Affairs & Diversity Latino Awareness Fund

A special thank you to this year’s Alsame Conference & Scholarship Sponsors:

• KConnect
• MIHC (pictured below)
• MI Student Aid
• Oakland University (host)
• Wayne State University

The conference would not be possible without the support of so many people! This includes the conference committee, host volunteers, high school counselors, college students, college representatives, and so many other community members. We also awarded scholarships to high school seniors and will be creating a seperate post to congratulate them.

As for 2026, we were excited to announce that Western Michigan University will be hosting the 2026 Alsame Youth Conference. More details on that to come later this year. See you in Kalamazoo!