Latino community leaders in Napa are celebrating more than a decade of monthly gatherings that have grown into one of the county’s most visible forums for civic engagement — and last week, their work earned official recognition.
The Napa County Board of Supervisors on Sept. 23 honored the Latino Leaders Round Table with a Hispanic Heritage Month proclamation, capping a week in which the group convened to tackle pressing issues of immigration, civil rights and public safety.
At the Sept. 19 luncheon, more than 60 people gathered to hear from guest speakers including Mireya Magaña, deputy consul general from the Mexican Consulate in San Francisco; Napa County Sheriff Oscar Ortiz; and Madeline Hernandez, regional directing attorney for the Immigration Institute of the Bay Area.
Ortiz said his department has to fight misinformation that spreads quickly on social media and creates fear among immigrant families. He emphasized that his deputies are not engaged in federal immigration enforcement.
“We are not ICE. We are here to protect everyone in Napa County, regardless of immigration status,” he said. “When people don’t trust law enforcement, crimes go unreported. That hurts the whole community, not just Latinos.”
Hernandez focused on education and outreach, pointing to citizenship classes and “know your rights” workshops her organization provides.
“Education is power. The more we share information, the less vulnerable our community becomes,” she said.
The discussion reflected both anxiety and resilience in a community that makes up more than a third of Napa County’s population. Ortiz noted that rumors of federal immigration enforcement can ripple across the valley in minutes, sowing fear among families.
“When Latinos succeed, Napa succeeds,” Round Table co-founder Jaime Peña Herrera told the group. “When Latinos thrive, our entire region prospers.”
Founded in 2012 by Peña Herrera, Gerardo Martín and Teresa Foster, the Round Table began as an informal lunch at a local restaurant with 30 people and Congressman Mike Thompson as its first guest. Modeled after similar efforts in Sonoma County, it has since evolved into a monthly forum that draws public officials, students and community leaders to sit side by side.
The group’s mission is twofold: to create a space where Latino voices drive the agenda, and to prepare the next generation for civic leadership. It now offers scholarships through Leadership Napa Valley and runs a Boards and Commissions Leadership Training Program.
Though rooted in Latino advocacy, organizers stress inclusivity. Roughly one-third of attendees are not Latino, a design intended to foster broader understanding.
“If you’re not invited, you bring your own chair,” Herrera often says, recalling advice from a former Santa Rosa mayor.
Co-founder Foster said she’s proud to see Latinos increasingly represented across wineries, restaurants and schools — progress she believes stems from visibility and dialogue.
“It makes me very proud when I say, yes, there are Latino wineries, Latino chefs, Latino principals,” she said.
Alonso Corona, CEO of the Napa Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, helped formalize the Round Table in 2023, giving it structure and resources to expand its reach.
“For the first time, I can actually see myself sitting at the table, not as an outsider, but as a voice that belongs,” he said.
For Herrera, the Sept. 23 proclamation affirmed what years of monthly meals have built: that Latinos are not only present in Napa, but essential to its future.