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Three weeks ago, Rainbow PUSH made a direct and public appeal for Silicon Valley technology companies to release their EEO-1 reports and workforce data.

Today, Facebook positively responded and posted its workforce data. Facebook joins a growing list of companies - Intel, Yahoo!, LinkedIn, Microsoft, Cisco and others - that are confronting the lack of diversity and inclusion, with integrity and transparency. This is a step in the right direction.

But the numbers tell the story. Blacks and Latinos are being left out of the technology revolution. Facebook reports that its overall workforce is just 4% Latino and 2% Black; 69% male and 31% women overall. Hispanics make up just 4% and Blacks 1% of senior level positions.

Truly there is a long way to go to break the virtual exclusion of Blacks and Latinos from Silicon Valley’s technology industry. The tech industry is perhaps the worst industry in the nation when it comes to inclusion, and their paltry workforce data extends to the composition of their Boards of Directors and C-suite leadership. READ MORE

2014 Copa Alianza de Futbol Hispano

The Most Prestigious Amateur Hispanic Soccer Tour

in the Nation Returns for Eleventh Season

Chicago, IL (July 14, 2014)– Alianza de Futbol Hispano, the nation’s leading organization

dedicated to providing unique and exclusive opportunities to the Hispanic soccer community in the U.S.,  announced the 2014 Copa Alianza programs and  tournament: RAM Copa Alianza,  Kellogg’s Copita Alianza, Sueño Alianza and Alianza U,

RAM Copa Alianza is the longest running event of its kind, as well as the largest national Hispanic amateur soccer program in the United States, showcasing the country’s top adult amateur Hispanic teams. The series of 11 tournaments will feature over 5,000 of adult and women players between 18 and 40 years of age and include over $100,000 in cash and prizes. The series of premier local tournaments will take place from May through September in 11 cities.

The 6th edition of the Kellogg’s Copita Alianza tournament is the largest Hispanic amateur youth soccer tournament in the United States with over 1,100 teams and 20,000 players.

7UP Sueño Alianza is a scouting program with participating scouts from 14 Liga MX teams, MLS clubs, US Soccer and the Mexican Soccer Federation (FMF).

Alianza U presented by Verizon provides the tools and information students need to attain their goals for higher education. Students, ages 15-20, can enter to win a $20,000 Scholarship. www.AlianzaU.com

2014’s Alianza de Futbol lineup of national sponsors includes Verizon, 7UP, Kellogg’s, RAM Truck and Telemundo.

Alianza U presents Verizon’s Prize Locker event with Jorge Campos. This allows fans of all ages to meet Jorge and win prizes such as: 2014 FIFA World Cup official soccer ball, national jerseys and much more!  Sunday, July 27, 2014 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.at  Verizon Wireless Store, 12632 South Rte 59, Ste 50, Plainfield, IL.
 

Calendar:

July 26 & 27

Chicago Tournaments 

Naperville Polo Fields: 23700 W 119th St. Plainfield,

From 8:00AM.- 8:00 PM. both days.

Sunday, July 27                     

Prize Soccer Locker event with Jorge Campos:

Verizon WirelessStore, 12632 South Rte 59, Ste 50, Plainfield, IL

2:00-4:00 PM          

For more information of Copa Alianza please visit www.alianzadefutbol.com

About Alianza de Futbol Hispano

Founded in 2004, Alianza de Futbol Hispano is the leading national organization dedicated to the support and development of amateur Hispanic soccer in the United States. We empower Hispanic soccer communities, families, and soccer players by providing prestigious soccer programs equal to those that exist for Anglo players so that Hispanics may reach their full soccer potential and succeed in education, life, and work. Alianza de Futbol programs include RAM Copa Alianza, the country’s largest adult Hispanic soccer tournament; Kellogg’s Copita Alianza, the country’s largest youth tournament; 7UP Sueño Alianza, the premier scouting program in the US for amateur Hispanic players and Alianza U, a college recruiting platform designed to help Hispanic players better understand the college recruiting process. For more

information, visit www.alianzadefutbol.com or call 1-866-538-4955.

Have you been asked to provide a bio and wondered what to include and how to craft it so it doesn’t sound stale or too self-promotional? Or maybe you want to update or add to your social networking profiles.

Consider your audience: Who will be reading/listening to your bio and what do you want them to remember about you?

If you are presenting at a conference or event, consider the attendees’ interests and highlight information that is relevant, memorable and builds credibility. Is your target audience contemporary, traditional, creative, or conservative? You will want you bio’s style to appeal to their style as well. READ MORE

The new documentary "Underwater Dreams" follows four teenage boys living in Arizona as they build an underwater robot for a major science competition.

On its surface, the story seems unremarkable. But their parents are Mexicans who are living in the United States illegally, and their high school is plagued by gangs and poverty.

American documentary maker Mary Mazzio said she set out to show just what the children of Hispanic immigrants can accomplish, especially if the U.S. Congress passes immigration reform eliminating obstacles for them to attend college, and to work.

"You have four kids that come from nothing, and look what they did," Mazzio said in a recent telephone interview. "There are millions of kids like them. All they need is a little bit of opportunity to flourish." READ MORE

The Senate easily confirmed San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro on Wednesday to head the Department of Housing and Urban Development, boosting the national profile of a Democrat with a compelling biography who's considered a vice presidential contender in 2016.

The 71-26 vote makes the 39-year-old Castro one of the government's highest-ranking Hispanics, a growing group of voters who lean solidly Democratic. His ascension comes two years after he got his first broad national exposure when President Barack Obama picked him to deliver the keynote address at the 2012 Democratic National Convention.

All 26 votes against Castro came from Republicans, including one of his home-state senators, Ted Cruz.

Castro grew up in a working-class San Antonio neighborhood, the Mexican-American son of a single mother who was a Latino rights activist.

He has a law degree from Harvard and is a three-term mayor of Texas' second largest city. His options for rising in Texas politics were viewed as limited in his Republican-dominated state, where no Democrat has triumphed in a statewide contest in two decades. READ MORE

Hispanics tend to be fashion leaders and enjoy shopping more than their Caucasian peers, according to research conducted by SUNY Buffalo State assistant professor of fashion and textile technology Arlesa Shephard.
In 2010, Shephard, the lead researcher who was then teaching at Texas A&M University-Kingsville, and two colleagues from the University of North Texas surveyed more than 450 students in South Texas about shopping behavior and how they prioritized fashion. They discovered that both male and female Hispanic consumers are generally fashion conscious and spend a greater portion of their income on clothes than other races.
“Although Hispanics tend to be collectivists who are family-oriented and embrace their heritage, they also want to assimilate into the U.S. culture,” Shephard said. “Displaying the newest fashions is a way for Hispanics to show that they belong in the U.S.” READ MORE

Your network is your net worth. It is a source of knowledge, job opportunities, potential business partnerships, future hires and so much more. Networking won’t only help you find your next job, it will help you improve within your current position. In short, your power is derived from and amplified by your network.

One of the world’s most successful tennis stars; a pop singer from the 90s making her comeback; the beauty director at a major national consumer magazine for teenagers; the son of a former Pennsylvania governor; executives at a major personal computing company — these are some of the people I count among my network. And I don’t just network with so-called high-powered people. I’m all about sharing my expertise and getting to know younger professionals, including new fashion designers, writers, photographers, etc.

My many connections have enriched my life, personally and professionally.

Traditional networking guides and tips make networking pretty transactional, but networking is more effective when you’re meeting and getting to know people before you need help with something or want to sell your products and services. READ MORE

Here’s a heads up for business owners in St. Louis and elsewhere: Wealth owned by Hispanic families could triple within 10 years, according to a study by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.

Most of the expected gain is population growth and will likely rise to a record high of 2.6 percent to 3.2 percent of all U.S. wealth, a hop from 2.2 percent in 2010.

Hispanics lost more than average families during the Recession, but stand to grow considerably faster than the average family through 2025, Bill Emmons and Bryan Noeth of the St. Louis Fed found. READ MORE

When family tales are passed from generation to generation with no single point of origin, when history fails to document years of pain and struggle, when personal identity becomes too complex to describe in a single sitting, when memory and imagination mingle in the land of dreams, this is where art comes in very handy.

For young Latina artists, art is an invaluable tool to archive the past, understand the present and activate change in the future. Yet, as with many underrepresented populations, Latina artists and the work they produce are often silenced and overlooked. An exhibition entitled "Y, Qué? (And What!)" is here to change that. READ MORE

Google is investing in thousands of women and minorities already in tech to advance their skills.
The search giant, in collaboration with its third annual techmakers programme, has teamed up with Code School to provide thousands of the online learning platform's paid accounts for free.
Code School's CEO, Gregg Pollack, said Google will pay for three months for select women and minorities already working in IT, in efforts to expand their skills.
"Today, a quarter of IT roles are held by women, and African Americans only make up about 3% of scientists and engineers," he said. READ MORE

More organizations are paying attention to Hispanics and Hispanic Millennials are drawing a great deal of that attention for reasons discussed in our recently released project:

• Hispanic Millennials make up the second largest Hispanic cohort living in the U.S. – accounting for 25% of all Hispanics
• Hispanic Millennials account for a sizeable proportion – 21% – of all U.S. Millennials
• Hispanic Millennials now make up the majority of Millennials in key DMAs

Our findings, like other studies on Hispanic Millennials, are captivating marketers to focus on this key demographic today. The present focus of most companies is on how to better market to Hispanic Millennials to get them to buy their products and services. READ MORE

Women of color are a principal force behind one of the most important components of America’s current marketplace and our nation’s future economy: entrepreneurship. Today, women of color are the majority owners of close to one-third of all women-owned firms in the nation.

Increased access to business capital—including microenterprises, venture-capital-funded firms, and crowd funding—has helped the number of women entrepreneurs grow substantially. But women of color face significant obstacles in starting their own businesses, leading to the question of why so many of them turn to entrepreneurship.

The growth of women of color as business owners is part of a long-term trend, but the question of why this trend is occurring is often left unanswered. Looking at the alternative to entrepreneurship—the traditional workplace—sheds light on some of the reasons. READ MORE

Everybody’s talking about this year’s World Cup. Next to the Olympics, the FIFA World Cup is the largest, most all-encompassing sporting event in the world with nearly 200 countries trying to qualify for their chance to be among the final 32 taking the field in unarguably one of the most enthusiastic fútbol (soccer) countries in the world, Brazil.

And for marketers hoping to attract the Hispanic market, the odds of having your message seen by millions during the games are in your favor.

In 2010, the World Cup held in South Africa was played in 10 different stadiums and drew in 3.1 million fans; averaging nearly 50,000 people per game. For the 3.2 billion fans around the world that couldn’t make the trip, full coverage was as close as their TV remote controls thanks to channels like Univision and ABC. Marketing and sponsorship sales alone brought in $1.1 billion. And this year’s games are stretched out over 12 host cities in Brazil!

So with over 50 million Hispanics living in the U.S., for marketers, it’s a gold mine, right?

Not so fast. READ MORE

San Francisco is heading for Latin America.

Set to start operating this year, LatinSF will work to bring Latin American businesses to the city. It will focus on Brazil and Mexico, but will also pursue companies from Colombia, Chile, Peru and Argentina. And it will help San Francisco businesses get set up there.

Modeled on ChinaSF, which has brought 47 Chinese companies to San Francisco in the past five years, LatinSF, is the first initiative from the recently formed Mayor's Office of International Business Development. Like ChinaSF, LatinSF will operate out of the city's Office of Economic and Workforce Development, in partnership with the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce. READ MORE

Two to one: That’s the number of unemployed people actively applying for every one posted position in the U.S.

Latest statistics show that there are about 4.4 million current job openings and more than 9.8 million unemployed Americans actively seeking a job.

The Bureau of Labor and Statistics stat on job seekers does not include those who have temporarily given up their search due to discouragement or took early retirement from an employer who gave them no other option, and still need to work to make ends meet.

It also does not account for those who are currently employed and looking to change jobs – they also are applying for one of those open jobs.

Now more than ever before, job seekers need to do everything they can to get an edge up on their competition to stand out in today’s job market.

The resume is a job seeker’s advertisement. It speaks to credibility, experience, professional level and ability to make a great first impression. Potential employers want to know if applicants are capable of making a great first impression as this will translate into how well a future employee will represent their interests. READ MORE

Latino Leaders magazine recently named Monica Martinez of Comerica Bank, senior vice president of Corporate Contributions for Texas and Arizona and National Hispanic Business Development, to the publication’s “Top 10” list of corporate Latinas. As featured in the April issue, the list recognizes Hispanic women who have made outstanding contributions in their field and whose achievements serve as an inspiration to others.

“It’s an honor to be among the trailblazers on the list,” Martinez said. “I am fortunate to work for a company that values diversity, invests in its employees and gives back to the community.”

Martinez has the dual roles of managing the Corporate Contributions function for the bank’s Texas and Arizona markets, as well as overseeing all aspects of the bank’s involvement in Hispanic Business Development nationally. READ MORE

Diana Gomez was a first generation Latina student attending college, 45 minutes from home. Her parents supported her emotional desire to attend college but could not help financially. Diana went to school full time but also worked three jobs as a nanny, student assistant and clinical tech to make it work.
Diana, like many Hispanic female students, faced what seemed like conflicting messages from her parents.

They supported her dreams of a college degree, but they also needed her at home to help raise her younger siblings, help clean the house, run errands for the family. Diana struggled her first year of college trying to establish herself academically and develop new friendships while running home every weekend to keep up her family’s expectations at home.

It was the summer before her sophomore year that Diana made a very difficult but brave choice to tell her parents she would not be able to come home as frequently, and she made herself and her classes the priority. Though Diana felt the decision was right, it did come with feelings of guilt. Family was so important to Diana, but she knew she would fail if she continued the path she was on. READ MORE

Looking to improve your professional network inside and outside your company? These three tips from executive career coach Ford Meyers will help you decide what you should do, what you may want to do and what you should never do.

Always network with business peers and others by making genuine personal connections--even if you use technology (email, texting or social media) to make first contact. There is still no substitute for socializing.

If networking makes you uncomfortable, get some coaching and support that will improve your skills and help you get comfortable with this vital discipline. Commit to mastering the process so you can use continuous networking as a primary strategy for career building. READ MORE

For the first time in more than two decades, Latinos who are immigrant hold fewer jobs in the United States than those who are born in this country.

This change is happening because it is now harder for immigrants to enter and find jobs in the U.S., and because a new generation of U.S.-born Hispanics is entering the U.S. workforce, according to a new report from the Pew Research Center.

This information comes as politicians are focusing more and more on immigration and job recovery as the midterm elections for Congress and state offices are coming this fall. READ MORE

Univision Communications' owners are looking for an exit.

Los Angeles billionaire Haim Saban and his four private equity partners are trying to unload their stakes in the nation's biggest Spanish-language broadcaster. The media giant is seen as a jewel on Wall Street because of the growing importance of Latinos in the U.S. market.

The broadcast giant has been knocking on the doors of deep-pocketed buyers, including CBS Corp. and Time Warner Inc. So far, Univision hasn't gotten the nibbles its owners have been looking for.

The reason: Potential buyers are balking at a $20-billion price tag for a company weighed down by $9 billion in debt. READ MORE