DVULI Celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month  

By Kimberlee Mitchell, DVULI Staff 

Hispanic Heritage Month is observed annually in the United States from September 15 to October 15. This month-long celebration has a dual purpose: it coincides with the independence anniversaries of several Latin American countries and highlights significant cultural contributions from Hispanics. 

To learn more about how DVULI supports the Hispanic community, I spoke with Rodrigo Ortiz, Training & Equipping Manager of DVULI, about his experience as a member of the Hispanic community and how he is helping DVULI create an inclusive culture for Hispanic participants and alumni. 

What is your role at DVULI? 

My role on the Training & Equipping team includes contributing to the research and design of the DVULI training content. I am the lead on implementing a new hybrid experience that will include using a learning management system (LMS) starting in 2025.

I also oversee our Principios 1 & 2 training and internally inform my team about cultural trends within the Latino church community. In addition, I serve as staff liaison to alumni in Miami and Orlando.

What does DVULI’s research reveal about Hispanic youth leaders? 

Although only 14 percent of our alumni base is Hispanic, DVULI’s 20-Year Audit research shows that Latinos are implementing our tools more than any other demographic. The report findings state, “On an impressive number of outcomes considered in this report, Hispanics are on average benefiting more from DVULI training and responding more positively to it.”   

Hispanics culture highly values trust, face-to-face relationships, and intentional relationship-building over time. 

How is DVULI reaching the Hispanic community?  

Years before I came on board, DVULI began to address the low numbers of Latino program participants by building and nurturing relationships with Latino pastors in target cities.  

DVULI has participated in the Hispanic Prayer Breakfast multiple times.   

In 2015, DVULI started Principios, an abbreviated version of DVULI’s core values training facilitated in Spanish, designed to give Hispanic pastors a preview of DVULI’s training content.  

Last year, we brought the Principios training to Boston and Phoenix. The training was well received, and pastors were hungry to learn the remaining core values.  

Partnering with e625 USA provides DVULI the opportunity to connect with more Latino pastors, promote upcoming cohorts, and allow alumni to share their DVULI experience on a national platform. 

What encourages you about the DVULI investment in the Latino community? 

Experiencing first-hand the impact our Principios weekends have on Latino pastors is fulfilling. Our biblically-based content hits hard in all the right ways. Facilitators Domingo Mota and Isaias Mercado work expertly to create a safe space for sacred moments of vulnerability. It’s moving to see the impact of small group talks with pastors who’ve never experienced this level of openness and transparency in a group setting. These Latino pastors share that it’s quite rare to be poured into in this way. Additionally, there are no other training opportunities to develop Latino pastors in their native language.   

I appreciate how strategic DVULI is overall. We’ve done the research, reviewed the results, and consulted with Latino alumni and other partners to devise appropriate next steps. We are intentional about making room for the many cultures and subcultures in the Latino community that vary by country and city. 

What’s next? 

In 2023, we created a Latino Advisory Board. This group was comprised of key DVULI alumni and partners, including Ruth Castillo (Dallas 2015), Obed Escobar (Phoenix 2017), and GRIL alum Mario Alfaro. The board informed us about how we can be more inclusive with our program content and delivery. We are excited to roll out some of these program updates in 2025.  

Due to popular demand from the Hispanic pastors and their wives, we’re piloting Principios 2 this year in Phoenix and Boston. Principios 1 covers the core values of balance and empowerment, and Principios 2 covers accountability, leverage, and interdependence. 

Based on the feedback we get from Principios 2, we hope to make Principios 1 and 2 more accessible to all alumni. This new approach allows us to expand beyond upcoming recruiting cities to all 37 DVULI cities and welcome more Latino stakeholders and youth leaders into our program.