María Teresa Kumar: Political Rights Activist

María Teresa Kumar speaks at the Voto Latino Power Summit, 2017.yashmori via Wikimedia Commons

María Teresa Kumar’s passion for politics was instilled in her early. Born in Bogotá, Colombia but raised in Sonoma County, California, Kumar was made acutely aware of how her family’s Hispanic heritage impacted their access to social support services. She carried this realisation with her through to office and into her ongoing work with Voto Latino, a bipartisan organization founded by actress and activist Rosario Dawson with the aim of increasing Latinx participation within the US’ democratic process.

Kumar’s family relocated to Sonoma County with little choice. Kumar’s stepfather became sick with encephalitis, a serious disease of the brain, impacting his ability to walk and talk. Whilst he was in the process of rehabilitation, María’s mother needed additional support and so they relocated to be close to his parents. María’s grandparents sent her mother to work in the fields whilst they took care of María. Even at four years old, Kumar “recogniz[ed] that there was a different type of classism that [she] had never encountered.”[1]

During the summer months, Kumar’s family travelled back to Colombia where she saw Latin Americans working as lawyers, doctors, and in business, not just out in the fields. Inspired by them, Kumar decided to pursue an education in International Relations; she graduated from the University of California before studying a master’s degree in public policy at Harvard.

As a student at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, Kumar realized just how powerful a tool technology can be when it comes to politics. Keen to utilize this in her work, Kumar founded Voto Latino alongside actress and activist Rosario Dawson in 2004. The nonpartisan, nonprofit organisation works to encourage Hispanic and Latino youth to register and vote and have used a variety of creative digital and media campaigns to engage young voters across the US. In the run up to the 2008 election, Voto Latino created a telenovela series starring Rosario Dawson and Wilmer Valderrama which emphasized the importance of registering to vote. The miniseries amassed more than two million views that year.[2]

Voto Latino not only utilises social media and telenovela-like shorts to engage young voters but provides education and support about US citizenship for those residing in the US permanently. They have also led several lawsuits in various states to prevent voter disenfranchisement.

In 2010, Kumar co-created and hosted Beyond Borderlines, a two-hour televised special on MSNBC covering the first ever English-speaking town hall focusing on Latino social issues. “Latino issues,” she explained in the special’s introduction, “are American issues.”[3] She went on to say

[Immigration] is our identity. We are one of the very few countries, if not the only country, where it’s been built on people self-selecting themselves to come to a country, have the identity, and really empower ourselves.[4]

For her groundbreaking contribution to Beyond Borderlines Kumar received an Emmy nomination in the Outstanding News Discussion and Analysis category. It is just one of many forms of recognition Kumar has received for her work over the years. As recently as 2025, she received the Carnegie Corporation of New York Great Immigrant Award.

A trailblazer of political activism, María Teresa Kumar has inspired thousands of Latin American youth to engage in politics and vote for their futures. Over two decades after founding Voto Latino, Kumar continues in the role of CEO and director, working to make real change for Hispanic communities across the US.

Learn more about Voto Latino here.

Read Rosario Dawson’s story here.