To further engage government leaders on issues of common interest, GE's Hispanic Forum and Telemundo hosted the 2010 Hazte Contar! Town Hall in Washington D.C. in December 2009. The event recognized Hispanic Congressional leaders and their support of census awareness among the U.S. Hispanic population and is part of Telemundo's year-long national multi-platform campaign designed to increase awareness of the 2010 Census among U.S. Hispanics.

The Town Hall panel was moderated by NBCU's Natalie Morales and Telemundo anchor Jose Diaz-Balart, and included Don Browne, president of Telemundo; Dr. Robert Groves, director of the U.S. Census Bureau; the Honorable Mario Diaz-Balart (FL-25); and the Honorable Xavier Becerra (CA-31).

GE's Hispanic Forum — an Affinity Network of more than 3,000 Hispanic GE employees across the United States — co-hosted the event to encourage all U.S. employees to learn more about the census and take the time to participate. GE Vice Chairman and Hispanic Forum corporate executive champion, John Rice, also attended the event.

“This event is a great example of the Hispanic Forum's engagement on issues that impact the Hispanic community,” said Juan Corsillo, national co-chair of the GE Hispanic Forum. “We are focused on partnering with national public interest groups and government officials to promote various health and education initiatives where GE and the Hispanic community share the same goals.”

As part of an ongoing effort to build out relationships with government leaders and become more connected with the external Hispanic community at a national level, GE's Hispanic Forum has taken the lead on other programs that support minority groups, including:

• BEE Healthy™ — a national community service initiative to promote healthy behavior for young people, particularly Hispanic children who have a significantly higher obesity rate than the general U.S. population. The BEE Healthy program is part of GE's healthymagination initiative and involves working with community organizations and legislators.
• Education initiatives — a mentoring program to complement GE Foundation-funded Hispanic Scholarship Fund (HSF) scholarships by pairing GE employees with the scholarship recipients.
• Professional skills seminars and networking events — including a “Persuasive Presentations” workshop that was conducted for members of the Congressional Hispanic Staff Association (CHSA).