The question follows María Teresa Kumar into the communities she visits. People are angry about what they see happening around them, yet still hopeful that they can change something. They want to know where to put that hope.

“What else can I do? ¿Qué Más?”

At 52, María Teresa is building another way to answer them. Her new conversation series, ¿Qué Más Now?, brings organizers, community leaders and Democratic congressional candidates into discussions intended to help people make informed decisions. After more than two decades of building Latino political power, she is still looking for ways to bring people closer to the choices that affect their lives.

That work has a personal foundation. Born in Bogotá, Colombia, and raised in Northern California, María Teresa grew up moving between cultures and languages. Her mother built a new life in California through learning English, working multiple jobs, earning a degree and eventually becoming a small-business owner. Opportunity took effort, and María Teresa had someone close enough to show her what that effort looked like.

Her family's faith in America still informs her public work. María Teresa connects that promise to real equity and opportunity for marginalized communities, keeping the question of who gets to participate close to her own story.

She became a first-generation college graduate, worked in Congress and went on to co-found Voto Latino with Rosario Dawson. The organization began with a belief in young Latinos and their ability to change American democracy. María Teresa helped fund that possibility on her credit card. What she was backing was a generation whose participation could shape the country it would inherit.