About Us

Manny is the co-founder of Latinx Newswire, the CEO of RetroPop Media, a global conventions and media company that focuses on the multi-generational vibrancy and iconic fun of great throwback pop culture. Before launching RetroPop Media, Manny honed his event production skills by founding and leading the iconic Hispanicize Event that over the course of nine years has become known as the “SXSW” of the U.S. Latino community. He oversaw the expansion to Hispanicize Media Group that included the creation of DiMe Media, a leading multicultural influencer network, and spearheaded the acquisition of the No. 1 Latino digital food platform, Hispanic Kitchen. Prior to Hispanicize, Manny was the CEO and Co-Founder of HispaniMark, the parent company of Hispanic PR Wire, Hispanic Digital Network, and LatinClips. A serial entrepreneur, Manny’s leadership guided these companies until 2007, when he and his partners sold them to the publicly-traded company United Business Media, who at the time owned PR Newswire. Manny is frequently featured in national media outlets to discuss U.S. Hispanic marketing trends, business, entertainment and pop culture trends. He has been featured in a variety of national, local and trade media outlets including Despierta America, CNN, CNN en Español, USA Today, NPR, The Miami Herald, The Los Angeles Times, and more.

Bill Gato is an experienced Hispanic digital marketing and public relations expert, an online publishing entrepreneur and a former Miami Herald journalist. He is a passionate believer in the underutilized potential of public relations as a branding medium. Prior to joining Latinx Newswire, Bill was president and co-founder of Hispanic Digital Network (HDN), the nation’s largest Internet advertising and hosting network of U.S. Hispanic newspapers, magazines, radio stations and portals. He was responsible for growing HDN’s national online advertising revenues, guiding its strategic vision and establishing its digital advertising operations. PR Newswire acquired HDN and its sister companies, Hispanic PR Wire and LatinClips, in 2008. Before HDN and PR Newswire, Bill worked for eight years as a Creative Director at Spanish Broadcasting System (SBS), one of the leading national radio networks, where he won several South Florida A.I.R. (Achievement in Radio) Awards. He began his career as a writer and radio columnist for The Miami Herald.

J is an experienced bilingual marketing and communications professional with more than 10 years of experience in project management, planning, market research, data analysis, brand awareness, loyalty and retention, digital marketing, social media, service/product lifecycle strategies and customer engagement. Born and raised in Bogotá, Colombia, J arrived in the United States at 16. He graduated with a Bachelor’s in Marketing from Florida Atlantic University and a Bachelor’s in Advertising from The Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale. Between 2013 and 2018, J served as a marketing coordinator and specialist for Hispanicize Media Group, the parent company of Hispanicize, the largest U.S. Hispanic marketing, social media, influencer, film, music and journalism conference in the United States. During this period, Jay was instrumental in launching Hispanicize Wire, the original namesake of what later became Latinx Newswire. Prior to Hispanicize Media Group and Hispanicize Wire, J worked as a marketing coordinator for LearningU. Since 2018, J has resided with his wife, Alexandra, in Austin, Texas.

Maribel A. Pizá is a child of immigrants and a nationally renowned immigration attorney with three South Florida offices and two radio shows. She is a proud Cuban-American who has devoted her legal career advocating for migrants’ rights. Maribel is also an entrepreneur and investor in various media, entertainment and restaurant ventures. She is the senior partner, board member, and legal counsel of RetroPop Con, a throwback pop culture convention.   Prior to relocating to Florida in 2006, Maribel was an Assistant District Attorney in New Orleans, where she graduated from Loyola University with a JD/MBA in 2002.  She served as a Judicial Law Clerk in Civil District Court in Orleans Parish for the Honorable Sonja Spears. Maribel got an early taste in business in 1992, when she and a partner bought New Orleans’ Dixie Tavern on Canal Street. Maribel regained the bar’s lost live performance license and developed a recognized live music venue that nurtured local talent and was featured on MTV and VH-1. Prior to New Orleans, Maribel attended the U.S. Coast Guard Academy from 1986 to 1989 after graduating from the U.S. Naval Academy Prep School in Newport, Rhode Island. An avid volunteer, Maribel is on the Advisory Council for the Cleveland Orchestra in Miami. She supports tomorrow’s young artists and immigrant students through the Alma Hispana arts scholarship in Palm Beach County and Casa Maya in Lake Worth.

Katherine is a founding partner of Latinx Newswire, and founder and CEO of  Influenser.com, a digital trade news platform, online community and pop-up event series that covers and highlights U.S. Hispanic, Latinx and multicultural founders, creators, innovators and influencers who embody the entrepreneurial spirit. Before launching her latest venture, Katherine was a founding partner of Hispanicize where she co-produced the annual Hispanicize Event. Prior to joining the Hispanicize team, Katherine held positions with Fleishman-Hillard and Newlink Group working with beauty brands, LATAM clients and handling crisis communications. Previously, Katherine was a producer for the PBS show, Nightly Business Report. Katherine started her career in communications as the media relations manager at Hispanic PR Wire and became the managing editor of the Hispanic PR Monitor, before the company was sold to PR Newswire in 2008. Born in Lima, Peru but raised in the US since she was five, her passion for community building, storytelling and the Latino culture drives her innovative approach to social networking both on and offline.