WHAT DO WE DO?
Grupo 21 Initiatives include:
- Resume bank.
- Professional resume feedback for select candidates.
- Professional Development Webinar Series
- DC Networking Breakfast Series
- Puerto Rico College Students and Island Leaders Breakfast Series
- Annual Puerto Rico Engagement Reception & Bridge Building Awards
- Annual Professional Development Bootcamp
Public Recognition
Our groundbreaking work in diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) has been recognized by the organizers of the Puerto Rican Week in New York, the C.R.O.E.M. Alumni Association, and the Senate of Puerto Rico. In June 2020, we were invited to walk the 2023 edition of the National Puerto Rican Day Parade in New York City.
Our Work: Since our inception in November 2020, we have hosted more than 60 educational events in partnership with the White House Office of Presidential Personnel, the House Office of Diversity and Inclusion (US Congress), the Friends of the National Museum of the American Latino, the Hispanic Heritage Foundation, NHIT, the Puerto Rico Chamber of Commerce, the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Metro Orlando, and SOMOS, Inc., to name a few of our partners. From 2020 to 2024, we presented more than 300 candidates for the consideration of the White House Office of Presidential Personnel, with 47 securing appointments.
Featured Speakers: Our events have counted with the participation of more than 100 speakers, including the then-U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona; former US Secretaries of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius and Donna Shalala; US Senator Tim Kaine; Congressmembers Adriano Espaillat (NY), Raul Grijalva (AZ), Darren Soto (FL), and Ritchie Torres (NY); Mayor Wilmot Collins from Helena, Montana; Roberto Jr. and Luis Roberto Clemente of the Roberto Clemente Foundation; Leslie Sanchez, Former Executive Director of the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans (appointed by President George W. Bush); Jamil Jaffer, Former U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chief Counsel (Republicans); and Annie Mayol, Former White House Political Affairs Director (appointed by President George W. Bush); among numerous others.
College Tour: In November 2023, Grupo 21 launched its Inaugural Grupo 21 College Tour with in-person presentations at the University of Puerto Rico Mayaguez and the Ana G. Mendez University (AGMU) in Gurabo, Puerto Rico. Since then, we have hosted in-person and virtual sessions at the Colegio Universitario de San Juan and the Orlando Campus of the Universidad Ana G. Mendez.
The Grupo 21 DEIA and Bridge Building Awards
The Grupo 21 Anniversary Celebration and Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) Awards, which take place during January in the District of Columbia featured Puerto Rican cultural elements like traditional holiday season dishes, "cabezudos", the Three Kings, and even the awards are shaped in the form of "Caballos de pica".
2025 Awardees: Honorable Darren Soto, Honorable Adriano Espaillat, former Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, and the late Antonio Monroig, who served as Assistant Secretary of Housing and Urban Development for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity (Reagan Administration).
2024 Awardees: the Honorable Miguel Cardona, US Secretary of Education; US Congressman Ritchie Torres; Antonio Tijerino, President of the Hispanic Heritage Foundation; and the late Miriam Cruz (posthumous) who served as Deputy Assistant to the President for Hispanic Affairs (Carter Administration); and Puerto Rican physician, rapper and author PJ Sin Suela.
2023 Awardees: U.S. Senator Tim Kaine; Cristobal Alex, Former Deputy White House Cabinet Secretary; Nellie Gorbea, then-Rhode Island Secretary of State; and Sara Clemente, then-LULAC Director of Federal Affairs.
The Grupo 21 Bridge Building Awards launched in 2022 take place every November in Puerto Rico and highlight the strong bonds that unite Puerto Rico and New York.
2024 Awardees: Former Puerto Rico Resident Commissioner Antonio J. Colorado and legendary American B-Boy, Richard "Crazy Legs" Colon.
2023 Awardees: Honorable Robert Rodriguez, then-New York Secretary of State; and SOMOS, Inc.
