October 2026 Business Lunch – Julio Saenz

Our guest speaker for the RHBA October Business Lunch series will be Julio Sáenz, Chief Content Officer for WXXI Public Media and the Rochester Hispanic Business Association’s 2026 Hispanic Business Person of the Year.

Join us as Julio shares insights on how businesses can leverage public relations to build their brands, strengthen their reputations, and support long-term success.

Julio Sáenz is the Chief Content Officer at WXXI, overseeing their television, radio, digital platforms as well as City newspaper and their education department. Previously he served as the Director of Public Relations at MVP Health Care where he managed the company’s PR and community relations. Sáenz has more than 25 years of experience in journalism, public relations, marketing and organizational leadership. He also held the same role at Common Ground Health.

He also served as the manager of corporate communications for RG&E and NYSEG. Before that, Sáenz served as Chief Communications and Development Officer at the Ibero-American Action League, where he also started and managed Rochester’s first Latin radio station, Poder 97.1 FM.

Julio has held many media executive roles having served as the editor and publisher of newspapers in Rochester, Atlanta and Los Angeles. He has also worked in television in Rochester and Miami. Sáenz is a professor at RIT’s School of Communications and is the author of the History of Rochester’s Latino Community.

Active in the community, he serves on the boards of the United Way Latino Leadership and Development Program and Causewave