MAMIVERSE, an Online Destination for Latina Moms, Daughters, and Their Families Launches Today

NEW YORK, July 18, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- MAMIVERSE.com, a lifestyle, news, and social media website for Latina moms and daughters launches today. The English-language website provides the household decision-makers of the fastest growing demographic in America with smart, savvy, useful and culturally specific content relevant to their lives and experience.

More than an information provider, MAMIVERSE.com connects a powerful, passionate group of like-minded Latina moms and daughters, creating a pioneering social networking hub where thought-provoking commentary and opinions intermingle with commerce and Latino culture.

"Our goal is to provide informative, empowering content to the Latin family member who needs it most: Mom," says Rene Alegria, founder and CEO. "By providing Latina moms with the tools they need to raise healthy families, we hope to broadly cultivate the next generation of Latino leaders, professionals, and entrepreneurs."

As the first comprehensive site of its kind, MAMIVERSE.com is aimed at English-dominant, acculturated Latina moms (those born and raised in the U.S.) and will create a community by connecting a new generation of Latinas with one another.

Target Corporation, one of the nation's largest retailers, is the exclusive retail advertising partner for the launch of MAMIVERSE.com. Target actively engages with the Hispanic market and its partnership with MAMIVERSE.com is an extension of the retailer's ongoing commitment.

"Target believes that MAMIVERSE.com is a smart, innovative way to connect with Latina moms," said Shawn Gensch, Vice President, Marketing at Target. "We are committed to engaging with the Hispanic community through a variety of different formats, such as this site, which delivers relevant news and content, as well as a social network where Hispanic moms can share, learn and grow."

The Numbers

The fastest growing demographic online, 82 percent of acculturated Latina moms are English-language dominant and web savvy, far over-indexing their general market counterparts in every form of social media (e.g., 84 percent of Latina moms are active

Facebook users).

According to the 2010 census, Latinos account for 18 percent of the U.S. population and 55 percent of total U.S. growth in the last decade. Latinos are the largest minority in America, currently numbering 50.5 million. As opposed to immigration, whose numbers have actually declined in recent years, the Latino population boom between 2000 and 2010 was driven by native births. This shift from foreign-born to U.S. born Latinos represents a huge watershed moment for the Latino community.

Content Highlights

The MAMIVERSE.com launch features a combination of high profile contributors, original video segments, as well as staff writers devoted to topics on Health/Fitness, Money/Investment Planning, Education/Schools, and Style/Shopping.

Launch highlights include:

• New York Times bestselling author Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez on a single mom's struggles raising a son to be a man.
• CNN award-winning producer Rose Arce on being mistaken as her daughter's nanny.
• Interview with GO THE F**K TO SLEEP illustrator Ricardo Cortes on 21st century parenting.
• Daisy Fuentes on tips for mami entrepreneurs.
• Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Beatriz Terrazas on the emotional complexity that comes with having a mother suffering from Alzheimer's Dementia.
• Award-winning author Sandra Barron Rodriguez on the regret of having only one child.
• Interview/feature with the brains behind ZUMBA; a Colombian trio who tapped into their own culture to launch the largest dance-fitness craze on the planet.
• Q&A with bestselling author Esmeralda Santiago on her new novel and its maternal themes.
• Crafting Diva and bestselling author Kathy Cano-Murillo on nurturing your child's inner Picasso.
• Videos segments include:
  • WPIX journalist Lolita Lopez on green living in a segment titled 'IT'S SO EASY BEING GREEN', as well as a practical money saving tips in a segment titled, 'YOUR TIME OR YOUR MONEY'.
  • National television correspondent Duarte Geraldino and bestselling author Maria Perez Brown in a web series titled 'COOKING WITH MAMI' that features Latina mother/daughter cooking demonstrations of 'traditional' and 'nouveau' techniques for cooking traditional Latino fare; viewers witness the acculturation process through food.

Also launching on the site is Club Mami, an integrated social media platform that allows Latina moms and daughters to create their own profiles, share photos, give advice, organize local networking gatherings, as well as recommend products and services to one another.

The Backstory

MAMIVERSE.com was conceived by Rene Alegria, the former publisher & editorial director of Rayo/HarperCollins, a groundbreaking, award-winning imprint centered on giving voice to the Latino experience through books. The MAMIVERSE.com mission is to unite the U.S. Latino population by way of an online community. Alegria believes that only by empowering Latina moms with the tools they need, and by reaching all Latina women and children in the process, will the potential of the community emerge and prosper.

With an extensive network of talent and journalists, including Texas-born MAMIVERSE.com VP & Digital Editorial Director Sylvia Martinez, the company has created a focused voice and point of view that Latina moms and daughters will be proud to call their own.

SOURCE MAMIVERSE