Scholastic hosted a read-a-long event with four Latin authors during the last week of Hispanic Heritage Month. I was honored to be among one of the four. I had the pleasure of being interviewed by actor, comedian and fellow Lower East Side, Manhattan resident John Leguizamo. One of the best compliments was Leguizamo introducing me as "the master of Latin facts." It was an incredible experience. 

July 2023, Santa Clarita - People often ask me what inspired me to create my company. It wasn't just one thing that forced the company into existence, it was a collection of events, moments, frustrations, and experiences that my children had to endure in school. So this answer, sums up the origin of my company perfectly. 

August 2023 - The Santa Clarita Valley Chamber of Commerce hosted the Black Business Month Celebration at a ceremony at California Institute of the Arts on Thursday, August 31st — drawing in elected officials, dignitaries and business leaders alike.  Heroes of Color was among one of the local companies to be honored with five awards. The Awards include: Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition, Recognition from County of Los Angeles, California Legislature Certificate of Recognition, Black Business Council Certificate of Accomplishment, and A Certificate of Recognition from The City of Santa Clarita. 
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Heroes of Color was recognized for providing enrichment programs for grade-school-aged children as well as workshops on the Business of Freelancing for higher education.  These awards would not have been possible without the help and guidance of some key people from the Small Business Development Center: Catherine Grooms, Bandhana Katoch and Jeffrey Forrest. With the recent success of the National School District Animation program, The Signal Newspaper of met up with David Heredia to learn more about the organizations future objectives.

The event honored two locally owned Black businesses: Heroes of Color and Omni Wound Physicians. Representing Heroes of Color was David Heredia, founder of the organization. Heroes of Color is an educational company that uses children’s books and animation as a tool to help children of color tell stories of their own experiences, as well as provide enrichment programs for grade-school-aged children as well as for higher education.  

“I’m extremely proud of it, especially because a lot of my experiences came from what I did not have when I was graduating from school,” said Heredia. “I didn’t have enough business courses as a child, I wasn’t given permission to draw myself — meaning a Black character. All of my characters did not look like me. So this was liberating and it’s liberating for a child to know that they can draw themselves and feel like they belong, even if everybody around them looks completely different.” - David Heredia Click here for full article

After an amazing experience as the first keynote speaker for College of The Canyons first International Animation Festival, I was honored to be interviewed by Canyon News correspondent, Jonathan Garcia. It was a great to be able to speak with the young students. 

Work in progress drawing and quote from one of my favorite comedians, Eddie Griffin. 

At CalArts University, on March 24th, I did my first live workshop in over 2 years. The topic was an incredibly important one that every art graduate has asked themselves when suddenly they found out that making it in the arts full time, isn't as easy as they thought it would be. Students were given class exercises to help them chart the path that they want to take in their careers. They were given tips on how to amplify their freelance opportunities as well as tasked with writing some goals and clear action plans on how to achieve them. It was a highly interactive, insightful experience that everyone (even non-art majors) walked away feeling more empowered and focused. I am uploading a snippet of what will be a full-hour presentation that will be available via Vimeo on demand. If you are interested in renting a copy of the full presentation, please contact me.

This weekend I had the privilege of hosting a one hour workshop talking about the steps involved in creating an animated short film. I took the audience from concept to completion and really emphasized the importance of story telling. 

Awesome podcast interview on the background of Heroes of Color. Mr. Lyons had just started his podcast series and I was his first recorded guest! Great honor, great interview. Listen and enjoy. 

During an interview in 2021, two high school students from Santa Clarita, CA interviewed me on Heroes of Color, it's intent, my purpose and about the type of work I do. It was a great interview and gave me an insight into what some students are experiencing in high school and how creating more intentionally inclusive content does make a difference.