From the land of pura vida, Costa Rica, Renata adopted the South as her home almost three decades ago. She began her social impact career in Atlanta and has honed her social entrepreneurial spirit in Nashville for the last 25 years. Renata is founder of Mosaic Changemakers, a social impact organization with the mission of weaving a better South by supporting, growing and connecting Black/Brown/Gold leaders. Starting in her home state of Tennessee, Mosaic’s flagship initiative is the Mosaic Fellowship, a program inspired by her own transformative experience in the Pahara-Aspen Fellowship. Before Mosaic, Renata led Conexión Américas, the nonprofit organization she co-founded in 2002 to serve Tennessee’s Latine communities. There, she spearheaded the creation of Casa Azafrán and Azafrán Park, two groundbreaking community development projects nationally recognized as models for nonprofit innovation, collaboration and placemaking. Even President Obama took noticed and visited Casa Azafrán to host a nationally televised town hall on immigration policy in 2014. After Conexión Américas, Renata spent two years as a fellow at Harvard University’s Advanced Leadership Initiative, where she focused on developing Mosaic Changemakers. Nationally, Renata served for 10 years on the board of directors, and as chair from 2015-2018, of UnidosUS, the largest Latino civil rights organization in the United States. Currently she serves as board chair of its sister organization, UnidosUS Action Fund, which works to expand the influence and political power of the Latino community. President Biden appointed Renata to the White House Hispanic Initiative Commission in 2022.