BDAAC Newsletter January 2011

Spotlight on Members –
Michael Beck

CAA’s Building Diverse Audience Advisory Committee (BDAAC) is a perfect match for Michael Beck. Mr. Beck is founder and President of MidwestLatino (www.midwestlatino.com), the #1 Web Portal for Hispanics in the Midwest. He was also the main organizer of the annual Cincinnati International Fiesta, Cincinnati Salsa Congress, and the Arte Latino event presenting local Latino artists. He holds MBA’s from both Vienna University of Economics in Austria and from Kent State University.

Michael is very active in the Hispanic community, including serving on the Board of Directors of LULAC Cincinnati, Inter-Ethnic Council of Greater Cincinnati, International Center of Cincinnati, FreedomYP, Centro de Amistad, Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, and SHPE (Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers).

Mr. Beck is a recipient of numerous awards, including the 2006 "Nuestra Familia" Award from the Ohio Commission on Hispanic/Latino Affairs for his contributions to the Latino community in Ohio; the “2006 Spirit of Cincinnati” Wendell P. Dabney Award for Diversity, given by the Cincinnati USA Convention & Visitors Bureau for the practice of diversity and inclusion, making Cincinnati a destination of choice for people of all backgrounds; the 2007 Community Award from The Links, Inc., a predominantly African-American women’s volunteer service organization; and the 2008 Spirit of Cincinnati Champion Award for bringing the 2011 LULAC National Convention to Cincinnati.

Currently, Michael is a member of the 2010-11 Class of Leadership Cincinnati, a program of the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber.

He is an avid Salas dancer and was featured as a celebrity dancer in CAA’s 2008 Dancing for the Stars fundraiser. Michal also has a Black Belt in Taekwondo and speaks five languages; English, German, Polish, Russian, and Spanish.