Renata Soto builds bridges for 'new Americans'

As a girl, Renata Soto shared a bathroom with four relatives. Her mother, grandmother and two sisters packed a small three-bedroom house in San Jose, Costa Rica's congested capital city.

That was before her activist mom took in a family of civil war refugees from Nicaragua for a month or so; at that point, nine people shared one toilet.

"How did we do that?" Soto wondered aloud in an interview Friday with The Tennessean.

Her mother, Marta Rojas, a professor at the University of Costa Rica, was part of a solidarity movement that helped civil war refugees in nearby Latin American countries. Rojas had a hands-on approach that often meant Nicaraguans were in her house for days or weeks at a time.

"Even before the first family arrived (in our house), we saw our mom being so involved in solidarity," she said. "We all supported and understood what was happening.

"We were adolescents. I'm sure that got a little tricky. But it wasn't a source of tension."

Those early experiences with refugees helped turn Soto into a leading U.S. voice on immigration, a co-founder and director of Conexion Americas community center south of downtown. President Obama speaks there Tuesday on immigration.

Several Tennessee government, business, education and human rights leaders give at least partial credit to Soto for the president's Nashville visit.

They say her passion and compassion for "new Americans," her expertise and her kind-but-persistent leadership style have allowed Soto to build broad, diverse coalitions like no other in the area.

"She knows everybody in Middle Tennessee, I think," said U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper, D-Nashville. "And everybody in Middle Tennessee likes her, and I think that's the key.

"She's persistent without being overbearing," Cooper said. "She's nice. What's wrong with that?"

Bill Freeman of Freeman Webb Co. calls Soto, 42, a saint. "She's dynamic, brilliant, a tireless worker," he said.

Tom Negri of the Metro Human Rights Commission called Soto "a rock star."

Soto blushed when told of the community leaders' praise.

"It's not an individual outcome, it's a team effort," she said, adding softly, "I do love what I do."

Soto credits her mother with doing most of the heavy lifting in her family because her mom was the first to go to college.

"My mom paved the way," she said. "There were expectations that my two sisters and I would go to college."

Soto says she also knew early on, because of her mom's influence, that she would help people, and Soto thought at first that would be through journalism.

"I love writing. I knew I wanted to take a path of public service. I thought, 'My God, I'm going to help people understand what is happening around us."

Soto was introduced to the U.S. at age 15. She spent three months in Portland, Ore., as part of a high school exchange program.

She started college at the University of Costa Rica — her mother's school — and met an American businessman at the beach one spring break. Pete Wooten was an Atlanta banker and a surfer who wanted to ride some Costa Rican waves.

A year later, Soto got a full scholarship to spend her senior year at Kenyon College in Ohio, near Columbus. And she called Wooten in Atlanta daily, eventually seeing him on some weekends.

Soto would up doing some graduate work at Georgia State University, "which just so happened to be in downtown Atlanta," she said, smiling.

Soto and Wooten were married five years after meeting on a Costa Rican beach — and that was bittersweet for the bride.

"I always saw myself working in Costa Rica, helping through journalism, being part of making that little place better," she said.

"It was hard for me to realize I was going to move to the U.S., but love took care of that," she said.

Meanwhile, her husband set two goals for himself after he started dating Soto: Learn Spanish and learn how to salsa dance. Soto said with a smile that he has accomplished both.

But Soto wasn't comfortable enough with her English to pursue a journalism career in the U.S., so she started looking for "something meaningful." She landed at the Latin American Association in Atlanta.

"I took it as a first step in reinventing what I would do with myself," she said.

A year and a half later, her husband's company transferred him to Nashville, but neither was especially thrilled to be moving to Music City in 1996.

"We both had a little snobby attitude — let's go for three or four years, and then we'll go somewhere fun and really exciting," she said. "It took a couple of years to feel really rooted in Nashville and start loving it."

Soto started working for the United Way of Middle Tennessee, first in communications, later in writing grants.

The results of the 2000 U.S. census — out in 2002 — changed Soto's view of what she could do to have an impact. Nashville's Latin community was exploding — and that community needed help.

"There was not one organization that was broader-voiced, for not just opening opportunities to support families in pursing dreams, but also to have a direct conversation with Nashville."

Soto and friends Jose Gonzalez and Maria Clara Mejia started Conexion Americas. The three got seed money from Thomas Frist and the Frist Foundation, and, Soto said, "the rest is history."

Soto said she's thrilled to be hosting President Obama at Conexion Americas. But she's even more thrilled to see Conexion Americas all over the news for the past few days.

"I'm thankful for the opportunity to share with Nashvillians a little bit of what we do here."

Of course that means that Secret Service agents and Metro Police and firefighters have been all over the building.

But, Soto adds, "We feel safer than ever!"

Reach Brad Schmitt at 615-259-8384 or on Twitter @bradschmitt.

Singing Soto's praises

Nashville Mayor Karl Dean:

"One of her great assets is she has one of the most pleasant personalities I have ever worked with. She's a positive person. She's collaborative. She's hard working and gets done what she sets out to get done."

Lipscomb University President L. Randolph Lowry III:

"Her spirit is one that's contagious and remarkable and beyond enthusiasm. ... It's interesting to see someone who has the drive she has and the appreciation of the difficult issues whether they relate to justice or law or opportunity, but can do that in such a pleasant, ingratiating way."

Metro Human Rights Commission Director Tom Negri:

"She's so darn caring, she's incredibly knowledgeable. There's never a doubt when she speaks on a subject, whether it's housing or immigration or assimilation. And it's heartfelt. She knows her constituents."

Freeman Webb Co. Chairman Bill Freeman:

"Her compassion, she wears it on her sleeve. She just can't hide that. It's sincere. She's not doing that so she'll look good to donors or reporters. It's almost a Mother Teresa type of thing."