Tag: Hispanic

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First Ever Hispanic Leadership Summit

“We are fragmented, underrepresented and misperceived, so we need to think less like 26 different nationalities and more as one community. In my heart, I know unification is what our Hispanic community lacks at this pivotal moment in history,” Claudia Romo Edelman

Today in New York City, the We Are All Humans Foundation has convened the first ever Hispanic Leadership Summit. Read more here from Claudia about this historic event in which more than 350 leaders will try to answer some key questions. Here is the link to the event’s website.

The questions asked focus on how to move forward as a community and how success will depend on:

  • Recognizing that the time is now for unifying.
  • Appreciating that we have a distinct window of opportunity before us.
  • Having the courage to address what gets in the way of our potential.
  • Believing our goals are achievable.
  • Accepting this invitation to act.

You can read Claudia’s blog post here: https://www.weareallhuman.org/vision/ and join the conversation via social media by following @WAAH_Foundation and Claudia Romo Edelman on Twitter, weare_allhuman on Instagram and the hashtag #HispanicSummit2018.

I recognize that by coming together to work toward common goals while amplifying the voices of the growing, diverse and dynamic Hispanic population, will ultimately drive positive change. I cannot wait to learn more about the discussion and outcomes from today.

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Puerto Rico, Hispanic Heritage Month,  Col. Gil Coronado, Sol Trujillo, Fortune’s Most Powerful Women, Marc Pritchard and more

One year after Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico, here is this from the Takeaway titled “After The Storm: Stories of Puerto Rican Resilience” and CBS aired this special titled “Puerto Rico: The exodus after Hurricane Maria.” Want to help? Support PRxPR.

As many of you may know, Hispanic Heritage Month is celebrated between September 15 and October 15 each year.  Watch this to learn more about how this month-long celebration started. Thank you Elaine Coronado for sharing. Here is more info on the celebration. There are numerous events and celebrations and many companies take the opportunity to host internal and/or external events, it is also a good time to spotlight the many contributions of Hispanics to the U.S. This from CNBC talks about the impact of Latino small businesses in the economy and watch Sol Trujillo talk about how Latinos are impacting the economy.  Here is this from Carlos Lozada from 2013 on who is Latino (or today Latinx) that also speaks to the history of the term Hispanic.

Some of the items I’m following this week: Fortune released the list of Most Powerful Women, an inspiring list of leaders, you can read more here. Axios had this article about how this Congress, depending on the election results, could be the more diverse in history and more accurately reflect the country.  Another week and another article about the importance of diversity in business.  Here is this great read titled “Why Confronting Our Unconscious Biases Is Both a Moral and Business Imperative.”

On the arts and entertainment front, the Getty Research Institute is launching an African American Art History initiative and Latinos made the “The Nun” #1 at the box office during its premiere week

ICYMI read this titled “Marc Pritchard shares personal journey around bias and labels.”

Photo by Elias Castillo on Unsplash

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NAHJ, NPR report, ClassPass, Blavity, LULAC, N.B.A., “Vida”, Adweek, Walmart, Goldman Sachs, Humanæ & more

Last week the National Association of Hispanic Journalists hosted its conference in Miami and I loved having the opportunity to visit with some amazing journalists – the featured photo is one group – thank you Olivia Tallet! While visiting with attendees I had numerous conversations about the lack of Latinos as sources and how many Latino journalists continue to work to change this. On that note, thank you Lulu Garcia-Navarro for sharing this and this from @NPR that validates my earlier posts of lack of representation of Latinos in media. Of course this is not just a problem at NPR, look at this from the Columbia Journalism Review. The list we started of Latino sources now has close to 100 entries, so if you need Latinos as sources, save this link! Plus thanks to the NPR piece I found this – which I love – #womenalsoknowstuff. You can register as a source here but note “To be listed on this site, you must have: (i) a Ph.D. in political science or be working towards a Ph.D. in political science or (ii) be employed in an academic political science department.” CJR is also compiling a list, here is a link to that list (save this link too) and the form to submit other names.

This week there are many reasons to celebrate including ClassPass raising $85 million in Series D, Blavity securing $6.5 million in funding, Mindy Marqués Gonzalez, executive editor of the Miami Herald and el Nuevo Herald, was inducted into the NAHJ Hall of Fame, I posted about two Latina entrepreneurs being profiled in key media publications this past weekend, LULAC selected Sindy Benavides as its first woman CEO and a first generation immigrant and Domingo Garcia was elected president. I had missed this article on five women mobilizing the Latino community for the midterms which includes Sindy. Also loved this story from the New York Times: “N.B.A. Power Brokers Gather, With No Men Allowed.”

Of course there is still so much work to do, which as Cindy Gallop points out is evidenced in Adweek’s Power list which only features 12 women and no African Americans. 

Stories I am following this week include “This VR Founder Wants to Gamify Empathy to Reduce Racial Bias,” “How Latinos Are Shaping America’s Future,” “Possible key to black boys’ academic success: Hire black men as elementary school teachers,” Walmart investing $2 million in “diversity internships,” and Goldman Sachs has named Erika Irish Brown as its new chief diversity officer. 

Other stories include this from NBC News about Diane Guerrero’s new book titled “My Family Divided,” this from FastCompany about sunscreen startups catering to “long-ignored minorities,” and this New York Times apology for its Los Angeles travel story – another example of the importance of having diverse talent in newsrooms.  Actually after you read the New York Times piece that led to the apology, read this about the show “Vida,” written by two Latina writers.  For more stories on Latinos, here is this week’s Latinx Collective.

ICYMI, watch this great TED Talk: “The beauty of human skin every color.” Not new but something that I read about this week.

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The business case for diversity, L’Oréal, Nike, Amplify, DirecTV, diversity in finance, groups driving engagement and more

I want to thank those who have added names to the list of Latino sources for media, we are now up to 90. The list is open for anyone who wants to make additions.

We continue to see studies that speak to the business case for diversity. Here is this from Harvard Business Review which finds that “Diversity significantly improves financial performance on measures such as profitable investments at the individual portfolio-company level and overall fund returns.” In addition to the findings, it includes “evidenced-based recommendations.”

Other good reads this week, L’Oréal shared some diversity best practices as a member of the CEO Action for Diversity & Inclusion, read this from the Company’s CEO. There are many debates on how to fight bias and promote diversity. Here is this from Fast Company. Forbes published this titled  “Seven Ways To Address The Diversity Problem In Finance.” Here is this piece titled “Inside Nike’s purge: More than a #MeToo moment,” and this: “U.S. Bus Tour Promotes Unconscious-Bias Discussion.”

If you try to engage diverse audiences, you know there are many groups and organizations focused on driving engagement. For example, Ben Finzel created a LGBTQ networking group in DC, read more here. Christy Haubegger, who founded Latina Magazine, launched “the most comprehensive site for underrepresented writers” and it is called Amplify, learn more here.   Also, DirecTV and Reese Witherspoon announced a new production deal.

ICYMI here is this great piece by Esmeralda Bermudez where she asked people how language has shaped their world. Having moved to the U.S. when I was ten, I will always be grateful to my mother for ensuring we spoke Spanish. Being bilingual has enriched me personally and opened many doors professionally.

Photo by rawpixel on Unsplash

 

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Cinco de Mayo, Top Companies for Diversity, New Boy Scouts Name, Girl Scouts response, plus more

As we head into the weekend there will be thousands of Cinco de Mayo celebrations around the country…and when I say country I mean the United States, not Mexico. Because as you can read here, here and here, it is not Mexican Independence Day and not as big a holiday in Mexico. Cassandra Jaramillo wrote this about how activists encouraged Cinco de Mayo to celebrate culture. Marketing, primarily by beer companies, is why the holiday is what it is today.  Companies spend millions, and so do consumers, but you have to be careful to not be offensive, as MSNBC, Golin, GMA and many others have learned.  Some Latinos dread the Holiday because of the stereotypes. Many of us can relate to this tweet from Laura Martinez.  

If you need more backup on why diversity matters, read this from Big Think titled “Diversity is more than a box to tick. It’s a smart business strategy.” Late last month Uber released its diversity report. This week the 2018 DiversityInc Top Companies for Diversity was released – the top three companies are Johnson & Johnson, Marriott International and AT&T.

This week we also saw the Boy Scouts drop “Boys” from its name and it is now being called “Scouts BSA” as they prepare to welcome girls. The Girl Scouts responded by saying they’ll remain the first choice for girls.

Some of the other stories I followed this week include this great read from Remezcla titled “How to Make it in Journalism,” this from MediaPost about what language to use for B2B marketing and the frustration from black lawmakers for the lack of diversity in tech.

This is one of my favorite “feel good stories” of the week, the two men arrested at Starbucks settled with the City of Philadelphia for $1 each and a commitment to create a $200,000 fund for young entrepreneurs. As CNN says here, they are paying it forward.

ICYMI – if you want to see Black Twitter in action, look up the #IfSlaveryWereAChoice hashtag and read more here.

Photo by Cesira Alvarado on Unsplash

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LULAC and USHCC turmoil, cities leading with diversity, Google, Black Panther, Premio Lo Nuestro, Latinistas & more

I’ve had the honor of working with many Hispanic-focused organizations throughout my career and have been following the turmoil at two of these leading Hispanic-serving organizations closely. USHCC CEO stepped down following claims of “sexual and financial improprieties” and Fernand Fernandez has been named interim CEO as the organization conducts a search. The League of United Latin American Citizens faced its own turmoil. The embattled, elected president of the organization decided not to resign following controversy resulting from a letter he sent to President Trump which led to the CEO, who has been at the helm of the organization for 30 years, to resign. Here is a good piece from Suzanne Gamboa on how things transpired. LULAC was one of the first clients I worked with at Fleishman-Hillard as they were holding the conference in Dallas, Texas in the 1990s. We will have to wait and see what happens but it has been very moving to see the many comments on social media about the important impact Brent Wilkes had during his tenure at the organization. LULAC and USHCC have done great work for our community and it is disappointing to see this turn of events.  

The current turmoil at these two organizations is concerning to say the least as the community faces so many challenges. Raul Reyes has this great piece in The Hill touching on this.  Having said that, there is great work being done by these and other Hispanic-serving organizations including NALEO, UnidosUS (formerly called NCLR), MALDEF, Latino Donor Collaborative and professional groups including Prospanica (formerly called NSHMBA), HNBA, SHPE, and ALPFA to name a few. It is unfortunate that the issues facing two groups are taking away from the important work being done.

This story from PBS stating that cities are “pitching their diversity in order to lure businesses” caught my attention. It’ll be interesting if diversity plays a key role in Amazon’s decision for its second headquarters.

Other headlines this week include NLRB siding with Google and this from NBC regarding NASCAR’s two milestones this week as “Darrell “Bubba” Wallace, Jr. and tire changer Brehanna Daniels will make history during the Daytona 500 race weekend.”

Did you think I would ignore the premiere weekend of Black Panther? Of course not! This headline from the New York Times says it all : ‘Black Panther’ Smashes Box Office Records and Hollywood Myths. This from Peter Rubin is an important point and here is this from CNN. Here is also this Letitia Wright profile in Vanity Fair.  One of my favorites moments was this one, when Serena Williams surprised Black Girls Code students.

This week don’t miss Univision’s Premio Lo Nuestro as it celebrates its 30th anniversary. Read more here.

Finally, ICYMI, here is this great Makers interview of Yai Vargas from Latinistas. 

Photo by rawpixel.com on Unsplash

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“Time’s Up” coalition, Hispanic identity, diversity in media and more

Happy 2018! Thank you for reading and don’t forget to subscribe. Please do not hesitate to send feedback, questions and ideas to monica@talkingdiversity.blog.

This weekend “Time’s Up” was unveiled, a coalition of 300 Actresses, Entertainment Execs “aimed at combating sexual harassment and misconduct in the workplace.” I think it is fantastic that this coalition is a result of the open letter sent by the Alianza Nacional de Campesinas supporting actors and actresses speaking out against sexual assault. According to this article, “organizers say they were inspired by the open letter to raise awareness and combat their own issues in the entertainment industry.” Also, here is a piece from last month about this topic. Here is also this from Melinda Gates. Oh and what a great way to start the year, Tarana Burke, founder of the #MeToo movement, pushing the button for NYE in Times Square, read more here.

I found this titled “Diversity perception mismatch in US identified by new report.” This quote I believe is accurate not just for women but diverse candidates in general: “For most women in corporate America, the problem isn’t a glass ceiling—it’s a broken ladder,” said Andrea Ostby, a BCG partner and another coauthor of the report.

This morning Hoda Kotb was named permanent co-host of  the ‘Today’ show – read Brian Stelter’s piece here.  On a side note, one of my favorite newsletters, which is focused on media, is Reliable Sources and you can sign up to it here.

The Verge published  “A look back at the state of racial representation in Hollywood this year.”  Very interesting data and numbers to spend more time on.

I recently wrote about the Latinx debate and Pew Hispanic released this in December titled “Hispanic Identity Fades Across Generations as Immigrant Connections Fall Away” with some interesting data. 

Here is this piece from JP Morgan Chase titled “Latino Entrepreneurs May Be the U.S. Economy’s Best Bet.” Here is this list from Vator for “Startup competitions with largest cash prizes for women and minority founders.”

If you are attending CES, try to attend Advancing Diversity.org’s event. More info here.

Finally, I want to close today with this list shared by Tanzina Vega and published by R.O. Kwon “46 Books By Women of Color to Read in 2018.” If you don’t follow Tanzina on twitter, you should.

Next week I’ll share some of the top 2018 events and conferences that you may consider attending – if you have any you want me to consider, email me at monica@talkingdiversity.blog.

Happy reading and here is to a 2018 where we can make a greater impact on diversity and inclusion.

Featured photo by Omar Lopez on Unsplash

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The Latinx debate, a new Hollywood commission, the impact of diverse voters and more

Hispanic, Latino or Latinx?

This week I want to focus on the Latinx debate because of this opinion piece by Daniel Hernandez from this weekend’s Los Angeles Times and titled “The case against ‘Latinx’”. The piece has led to some interesting debates on twitter.  This  may be a new term for some, and there may be confusion in how, when or if to use it.

I find this debate fascinating for many reasons. You see for years I’ve been asked what term organizations should use – Hispanic or Latino. Let’s look at the history of the term Hispanic which was chosen by the U.S. government as the official term in the 70s, read more on the history here. Some disliked the term Hispanic but others did not connect to the word Latino. In 2002 Pew issued a report that showed how many Latinos identified more with their country of origin than to those terms. Here is this from CNN in 2004.  Two national organizations use Latino or Latin American in their names – National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials and League of United Latin American Citizens. The National Council of La Raza changed its name this year to Unidos US and NSHMBA changed its name to Prospanica. There is also MALDEF, which serves all Latinos in the U.S. but could be seen as only serving Mexican Americans because of its name. Several professional organizations use Hispanic in their name, i.e. NHJA, AHAA, SHPE, HNBA, etc.  Understanding that some individuals relate more to one term than the other is why I have always advised clients to use both intermittently.

Most recently Latinx has entered the debate. Let’s be clear, the terms “Hispanic” or “Latino” will not be replaced by the term “Latinx.” As Daniel does say, it is more relevant to some than to others, especially millennials. The beauty of our community is that we are not monolithic and this diversity is reflected in this debate.

After reading this great piece by NBC I better understand the importance of Latinx. I consider myself Latina, Hispanic, Mexican, MexTex (born in Mexico but raised in Texas). I will add Latinx to this list without eliminating the others and use it when it makes sense. One last point, I do hope that the LA Times gives space to the other side of the debate so that people can better understand why it’s important.

So to the question, should companies use Latinx? It depends when and how the term will be used (i.e. internally, externally, Latin America) but yes you should if 1) it’s relevant to your core audiences and 2) if you are focused on inclusion. Leaders should tap employees and experts who understand our community and their main audiences to help guide them. Carefully adding the term to their lexicon could help them connect to younger employees and consumers in the U.S. 

What is driving the conversation?

This week as expected we continue to see coverage around the #MeToo movement, including the announcement of a new Hollywood commission to address sexual harassment and led by Anita Hill.

Forbes profiled the new coalition created to quantify diversity and inclusion efforts in marketing and media. I think most of us agree this is a much needed initiative.

The Alabama election once again demonstrated the importance diverse communities will have in the future of our country. There has been extensive coverage about how black women helped the Democrats win the senate seat in Alabama. I do say “once again” because as this piece points out, this year we are seeing an increase in diverse candidates and voters.

Here is a good read from Steve Barrett about Barri Rafferty‘s promotion as it relates to diversity in PR – yes there is much work to be done.

Congratulations to the LATINA Style top 10 corporate executives of 2017, here is the list.

Congratulations to Maame Biney, she is the first African-American woman to qualify for the U.S. Olympics team in speed skating!

ICYMI

As we head into Christmas, here is the #ICYMI of the week, this uplifting piece on Anthony Anderson, a young opera singer.  

Wishing everyone a wonderful Holiday. Feliz Navidad.

Featured photo by James Motter on Unsplash