Draft:Guillermo Nicolas

= Guillermo C. Nicolas     = Guillermo C. Nicolas (born in San Antonio, TX on Christmas day 1963) is a successful entrepreneur and philanthropist that supports the intercultural communication via arts sponsorship.

In that capacity Guillermo C. Nicolas became the Chairman of the Texas Cultural Trust. Previously he was chairman of several cultural institutions including He claims he has made it his life's ambition to honor his family's heritage in the development of Latino media in the USA, which includes an arts initiative bearing his parents' names. He supports and promotes original work by Latin American, African and other marginalized artists ,
 * San Antonio Arts Commission,
 * Texas Public Radio,
 * San Antonio Public Library Foundation,
 * South West School of Art & Craft of The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA)
 * San Antonio Museum of Art,
 * Luminaria Contemporary Arts Festival of San Antonio,
 * Healy Murphy Center

Early Life and family background
Guillermo C. Nicolas was born in San Antonio, Texas on December 25th, 1963 to parents Irma and Emilio Nicolas Sr. One of three siblings, he attended Alamo Heights High School where he was elected class president two years in a row. He later went on to study the arts at UT Austin, where he graduated with a bachelor's degree in Science in History & Art History.

Nicolas' grandfather, Raoul A. Cortez, emigrated to the USA as a young man and despite many obstacles, in 1946 was able to set up the first full-time Spanish-speaking radio station in the USA that was owned by a Hispanic. This radio station was called KCOR 1350 AM and was based in Cortez's home town of San Antonio, Texas.

Nicolas's father, Emilio Nicolas Sr, was also a Mexican immigrant who crossed the border in 1946 and later attended university in San Antonio. He married Raoul A. Cortez's daughter Irma and began working at KCOR in 1955.

The same year, Cortez branched out into the world of television with KCOR-TV, the first TV station aimed at a Hispanic audience in the continental US and the first to broadcast on UHF. In 1961, Emilio Nicolas and a group of investors took over KCOR-TV and renamed it KWEX-TV. He would remain president and general manager for over 3 decades.

The partners later opened KMEX-TV in Los Angeles and set up an affiliate network of Spanish-language TV stations nominally.Spanish International Network (SIN),and the Spanish International Communications Corporation (SICC), as well as a television network Univision Communications,subsequently  TelevisaUnivision

TelevisaUnivision has become one of most important Spanish-speaking TV network in the USA. Nicolas' father, Emilio Nicolas Sr.is also credited with setting up Galavision, today one of the top Hispanic networks, as well as Nicolas Communication Corporation (NCC). Both Cortez and Nicolas Sr. are considered to be pioneers in Hispanic broadcasting in the USA. Both men had an intense interest in the betterment of Latinos in the USA and both received accolades and awards for their contributions to Hispanic media and the Latino community as a whole.

Career
Early on in his professional life, Nicolas followed in his grandfather's and father's footsteps by working as director of operations at Nicolas Communications Corporation in San Antonio from 1990 to 2000, where he was in charge of operations for four television stations, besides being responsible for corporate and community relations. He then went on to become a director at Home Shopping Español in St Petersburg, FL., a position he held from 2000 through 2003, where he was responsible for programming.

From 2003 until 2021, Nicolas was the president of 3NGroup LLC, located in San Antonio, Texas, a private real estate firm.

Philanthropy and Arts Involvement
Nicolas is a passionate art collector who focuses on Mexican-American, African-American, and LGBTQ art and artists. He has dedicated himself to volunteering and philanthropy for many years, supporting numerous art and cultural organizations. The Texas Public Radio headquarters, located in the Alameda Theater in San Antonio (used by his grandfather for his radio and TV studios in the 40s and 50s) was named the Emilio and Irma Nicolas Media Center in honor of his parents because of his efforts. Besides this, he has funded many museum exhibitions in San Antonio and Austin, lending artworks to museums both nationally and internationally. He has given financial support to resident artists in both San Antonio and Berlin, Germany. Notably, he is presently sponsoring in honor of his parents an exhibit at the Smithsonian that is focused on Latinas in media, called “de Ultima Hora”.

Leadership and Honors
Guillermo Nicolas holds several leadership positions and has been honored for his contributions. He is chairman of the Texas Cultural Trust and has served as the past chairman of various organizations, including the San Antonio Arts Commission, Texas Public Radio, San Antonio Public Library Foundation and the SouthWest School of Art & Craft. He has been recognized by the Ford Foundation for his efforts in education and named Literacy Volunteer of the Year by the Texas Commission on Literacy. Additionally, he has been honored by the Contemporary at Blue Star as patron of the year.