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With the country still reeling from the aftermath of the housing crisis and the economy in a slow recovery, the federal government’s consumer watchdog group introduced a new set of rules Thursday in an attempt to rebuild a shaky housing market and to protect homeowners from defaulting on loans.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) new rules could help Latinos homeowners who have been some of those hardest hit by the housing crisis of the past few years and the goal of the Bureau's new rule is to protect consumers from risky practices that helped cause the crisis., said Moira Vahey, a spokesperson for the CFPB. READ MORE

January 10, 2013 – Griselda Aldrete, Executive Director of Hispanic Professionals of Greater Milwaukee (HPGM) and HispanicPro partner, was named one of Milwaukee 40 under 40 award winners. “I am very humbled by this recognition but very excited,” said Aldrete. This is the 20th year The Business Journal has recognized Milwaukee’s up-and-coming community leaders. These year’s winners were selected based on their community leadership and engagement from a pool of 270 nominations. “This recognition reflects the high regard The Business Journal and Selection Committee have for the work that HPGM does and its value to the city of Milwaukee,” said Aldrete. “I am grateful to join the ranks of other professionals who are vested in the city and really want to make a difference to making Milwaukee a better city to live and work in.”

Aldrete and the other winners will be honored in a special section of The Business Journal on March 1 and at an awards event on March 4. To see the full list of winners log on to: http://www.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/blog/2013/01/business-journal-names-40-under-40.html

About Hispanic Professionals of Greater Milwaukee (HPGM)
As Milwaukee and its business community strive to attract and preserve a talented, diverse workforce, HPGM's founding members recognized the important role they could play in this endeavor and the service it could provide to the Hispanic professional community as well as to corporations in the Greater Milwaukee area. HPGM was started with the help of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Wisconsin and the Metro Milwaukee Association of Commerce.
After several critical strategic planning sessions, key recruiting of members, and several fun, informal networking socials, HPGM has launched as a multi-generational non-profit 501c(3) organization. With membership over 550 and the positive buzz within the Greater Milwaukee community, HPGM is ready to ask the question: Hispanic Professionals... Have you seen us lately?

Latinos and African Americans take more time to complete their graduate degrees in science, technology, engineering and math fields, according to a new study from the American Institutes for Research.

This trend is affected by whether they had a master’s degree, funding for their program, marital status and the educational attainment of their parents. The study looked at data from 1990 to 2009 and excluded international students, tracking data for U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents. READ MORE

With approximately 39.9 million immigrants in the United States, the American Psychological Association (APA) indicates mental health services are, and will continue to reach a growing number of adults and children from different cultural backgrounds. Approximately 1 in 5 people residing in the U.S. is a first- or second-generation immigrant, and nearly 25 percent of children under the age of 18 have an immigrant parent.

Latinos, as one of the largest and fastest growing minority populations in the country, are of particular focus when it comes to the area of mental health. With the Latino population in the U.S expected to triple by the year 2050, and the inclination of Latinos to shy away from mental health services, experts are placing an emphasis on the need for culturally relevant mental health care. READ MORE

Across the United States, college administrators are poring over student essays, recommendation letters and SAT scores as they select a freshman class for the fall.

If this is like most years, administrators at top schools such as Harvard and Stanford will try hard to find talented high school students from poor families in a push to increase the socioeconomic diversity on campus and to counter the growing concern that highly selective colleges cater mainly to students from privileged backgrounds.

Top schools often offer scholarships that not only include free tuition, but also free room and board for top students from poor families — meaning it can be less expensive for these students to attend Harvard than a state school or a community college, says Caroline Hoxby, an economist at Stanford who tracks these students. READ MORE

Following an election when Latinos showed their growing political influence, a coalition of groups is coordinating a gathering of top Latino entertainers at the Kennedy Center in a series of events ahead of President Barack Obama's inauguration.

Eva Longoria, George Lopez, Mario Lopez, Chita Rivera and Rita Moreno are among a group of prominent performers who will gather Sunday, Jan. 20 for "Latino Inaugural 2013: In Performance at the Kennedy Center." Details of the tribute performance were announced Tuesday.

Longoria, a co-chair of Obama's inauguration festivities, is hosting the event. Additional performers will include Jose Feliciano, Melanie Griffith, New York City's Ballet Hispanico, Coro de Ninos de San Juan (the San Juan Children's Choir) and others. READ MORE

Facebook kicked off the new year by showering 42 nonprofits in Menlo Park and East Palo Alto with a total of $200,000 in grants, according to company officials.
The financial largess is part of a deal the social media company struck with the city of Menlo Park last year in exchange for permission to almost double the number of employees on its main campus at the intersection of Bayfront Expressway and Willow Road.
Although Facebook originally promised to create a $500,000 foundation, Susan Gonzales, the company's head of community engagement, said Monday that it kicked in an extra $100,000 for a total community donation of $600,000.
"We were pleased by the response," Gonzales said, adding that more than 100 community groups applied for the funding. "We decided in order to address a lot of the requests we'd add $100,000 to help celebrate the launch of the fund."
Menlo Park Council Member Kirstin Keith, who is on the Facebook Local Community Fund board and participated in the grant allocation discussions along with East Palo Alto Council Member Laura Martinez and several Facebook employees, said it was "fantastic" to be able to give out the money.
"These are really needy organizations who will helpfully change people's lives," Keith said. READ MORE

Hispanic women in the United States, who have generally had the highest fertility rates in the country, are choosing to have fewer children. Both immigrant and native-born Latinas had steeper birthrate declines from 2007 to 2010 than other groups, including non-Hispanic whites, blacks and Asians, a drop some demographers and sociologists attribute to changes in the views of many Hispanic women about motherhood.

As a result, in 2011, the American birthrate hit a record low, with 63 births per 1,000 women ages 15 to 44, led by the decline in births to immigrant women. The national birthrate is now about half what it was during the baby boom years, when it peaked in 1957 at 122.7 births per 1,000 women of childbearing age. READ MORE

Google Inc. is expanding its push to help more small businesses get online, this time en español.

The Internet search giant held a free seminar Tuesday to teach Latino business owners how to create and manage their websites and promote their businesses.

At a production studio in Los Angeles’ warehouse district — transformed for the day with colorful chairs and candy jars — Google employees explained in Spanish how to register domains, set up Google Alerts and use tools such as Google Calendar and Google Docs. Among those at the seminar were handymen, travel agents and insurance brokers. READ MORE

The U.S. unemployment rate for Latinos fell to 9.6 percent in December, the lowest jobless rate in four years.
December was also the fourth straight month the jobless rate has fallen below 10 percent. Prior to September 2012, the Latino unemployment rate had not gone under 10 percent in 44 consecutive months.

However, despite the recent positive trend, Latino unemployment remains nearly 2 percentage points higher than the national average of 7.8 percent, and the rate is still nearly four percentage points above its pre-recession level of 5.8 percent in November 2007, according to the report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The economic recovery for Latinos has been a roller coaster ride. The rate rose from 9.3 percent in December 2008 to 10 percent the following month, reaching a peak of 13 percent in August 2009. READ MORE

Latinas can become leaders and improve their careers when they teach white male workers how to embrace their diversity so they can connect with people of all races and religions, says diversity expert speaker Pegine whose inspiring life story was recently profiled in a feature article on NBC Latino.com

"Latinas and women of color must be empowered to help their white brothers embrace their own diversity so we can all achieve our organizations' missions," says Pegine, MSW, CSP and SHRM member who is CEO of Team Pegine Inc. "We have to bring them into the program. When they grow, we all grow."

Team Pegine has created a diversity training program called White Guys Are Diverse Too! to help white men and those that work with them embrace their uniqueness. The program is geared for military, defense, government and federal contractors employees. It has been presented to officers at the US Navy, US Army, National Guard, US Marines and US Coast Guard.

She has researched diversity trends for many years and has found surprising conclusions.

"In fact, white guys might be the most overlooked group. The truth is Caucasian men already are diverse. They are diverse because of their age, background, economy, home life, geography, education, disabilities, intellectual, sexual orientation, marital status and children. No one is an Average Joe. But white men don't realize that," said Pegine, an expert on diversity training who has testified in front of the Congressional military leadership diversity commission. READ MORE

From conservative immigration reform advocate Marco Rubio to DREAMers, Latinos played a key role in 2012 Politics. With a new batch of Hispanic lawmakers set to take office in 2013, here are the five to watch.

1. Representative Luis Gutierrez (D-Illinois)

The Democratic Illinois congressman has been a vocal advocate of immigration reform, and with the topic set to take center stage in the next Congress, Gutierrez is likely to play a key role in the debate. He has already been quite vocal about creating a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. The first Latino to be elected to Congress from the Midwest sponsored a version of the DREAM Act in 2001. While the DREAM Act has not passed, Gutierrez has touted the record Latino voter turnout in 2012 as an indicator that the nation is ready for immigration reform. This Puerto Rico-rights advocate is also a key member of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, a group of lawmakers who have developed and released what they say should be guiding principles to immigration reform, which includes a path to citizenship. READ MORE

It’s shaping up to be a really competitive awards season with films like Silver Linings Playbook, Lincoln and Life of Pi already garnering serious Oscar buzz in the acting categories, as well as those behind-the-scenes.

And since the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences opened voting for Academy Award nominations to its members last week, we’ve decided to shine a spotlight on this award season’s 15 Latino Oscar hopefuls. Without further ado, here are the Latinos who have a shot at getting a golden guy next year! READ MORE

Not all of the key players in the 2012 election were politicians. Here’s a list, that by no means is comprehensive, that gives us a look into the Latinos and Latinas that were instrumental in the 2012 election.

Latino volunteers – Those who basically made campaigning across the country possible, from registering voters to fundraising, phone banking, getting out the vote, and organizing for local and national candidates.
Latino voters – Accounting for 1 in 10 votes this cycle, Latino voters took to the polls to potently remind politicos across the spectrum that they cannot ignore this constituency when it comes to policy and campaigning.
Katherine Archuleta – The first Latina to ever hold the title National Political Director of any presidential campaign. Archuleta served as the National Political Director for Obama for America 2012. READ MORE

This year we’ve seen a rise in homelessness, unemployment, a dire need for education and mentors, as well as devastation as a result of Hurricane Sandy. However, we must commend those Latinos who have come to the rescue in various ways. Here are just a few that deserve our standing ovation:
1. Woman on a mission to help homeless students in Las Vegas
Angela Urquiaga goes to work at 5:30am so she can open the doors to homeless students who sleep by Rancho High School’s steps. She doesn’t have to be there so early, but she knows for some the school is their only haven. She began helping homeless students in 2001, when there were only seven or eight in Las Vegas. Today, there are more than 5,000. In the last 11 years, she says she’s helped more than 3,000 homeless students with the aid of
everyday people willing to give a few dollars, or donate clothes and toiletries.
Read more here.
2. Man uses a gift of $280 to educates his community
When Angelo Cabrera came to the U.S. alone, at the age of 14, from Puebla, Mexico, he was homeless and had no other choice than to work 14-hour days locked in the basement of a New York City supermarket. Almost two decades ago, a stranger gave him $280 which not only changed his life, but an entire community. Cabrera founded a non-profit in 2001, called MASA-MexEd, which tutors mainly Mexican and Mexican-American students in New York City. According to the Census, approximately 41 percent of all Mexicans between ages 16 and 19 in New York City have dropped out of school. He wants to change that. READ MORE

In the United States, our diverse population translates into a wide variety of ways people ring in the New Year. Latinos across South and Central America celebrate with a multitude of traditions. My Salvadoran husband, for example, tosses a bucket of water out the door to symbolize doing away with the old to make room for the new. Here is what other Latinos in the U.S. told me when I asked, "How will you be celebrating when the clock strikes midnight on New Year's Eve?"
"We first watch 'It's a Wonderful Life,' then my three sons, my husband and I all sleep in our sleeping bags around the Christmas tree..." – Alexandra Rojas
"… New Year's Eve is another celebration we spend en familia with my suegro and all of my in-laws. At midnight, the entire family exchanges hugs, starting with our spouses and kiddies. Then we toast with sparkling cider … and share what our hopes and wishes are for the New Year." – Leslie Limón READ MORE

The recipe for success isn’t so much about emulating a dog-eat-dog mentality, but rather it’s building a base of networks or what Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis called “hermandad.”

Solis explained to a crowded room of Latina leaders at a luncheon Monday during the National Hispana Leadership Institute annual conference in Washington D.C., that growing up she sought “hermandad” or a support system.

“There’s this synergy that exists among Latinas that we support each other,” said Solis. “Whatever we do, we have to remember, we have the responsibility to continue to make sure that others come behind us and they’re around us because let me tell you it is lonely, even where I am at.” READ MORE

Even as rightwing pundits like Ann Coulter and Bill O’Reilly paint the Latino community as over-reliant on government, a new study highlights that Hispanics often do not receive enough of the benefits they are entitled to.

Latinos are less likely than non-Hispanic whites to apply for unemployment insurance benefits or to receive them once they apply, according to the study published in the Monthly Labor Review and publicized in a briefing by the National Employment Law Project.

Based on the 2005 supplement of the Current Population Survey of 60,000 households, the study by Alix Gould-Werth and Luke Shaefer of the University of Michigan found that only 34 percent of Latinos applied for unemployment benefits, compared to 49.5 percent of non-hispanic whites. Of those who applied, 56.8 percent of Hispanic applicants received benefits, versus 70.9 percent of non-Hispanic whites. READ MORE

For Paula and Manuel Cisneros, every day is a challenge of survival. At 73, he cuts and bag cactus to sell on the street to pay for basic expenses and she is looking for a job. A peaceful retirement for them just looks like a very distant dream.

"Aging is very easy, but to do it with dignity and wellness is not that easy," said Manuel, who came from Mexico as an undocumented immigrant in 1972, worked as a construction worker and after a dozen years became a United States citizen.

The Mexican immigrant couple is barely makes ends meet with a $900 monthly Social Security check. They also receive assistance from the Dallas public housing authority that pays half of their apartment rent.

Cactus and Computers

Lately, the Cisneroses, who and have no savings, have lacked money they need to pay for their telephone service or more food. For that reason, over a year ago they found a way to get more income by selling cinnamon, pepper and other spices. Now they only sell fresh cactus—nopales used in Mexican cooking--cleaned, cut and put in bags of one or two dollars each.

“We use such an alternative because no one employs us,” they said. The reasons their opportunities for getting by financially include being old, lacking of English proficiency, having little education—and being Mexican.

"In this country you must work very hard, as I did, but I don’t feel I got enough benefits for my old age or perhaps did not understand the proper way to do it," said Manuel, who is considering taking computer classes to see if he can get a job.

"The sale of cactus has become indispensable for our budget, it’s how we gain $5 or $ 10 for gasoline now and then, for our vehicle payments and insurance and the cost of our medicines," said Paula, 63. READ MORE

Latino voters overwhelmingly support tax increases on the wealthiest Americans as a way to reduce the deficit and deal with the looming fiscal cliff.

According to a new impreMedia/Latino Decisions survey of more than 5,600 Latino voters, a whopping 77 percent favor increasing taxes on the wealthy. While the vast majority of Democratic Latino voters -- 86 percent -- fall into that category, so do 51 percent of Republican Latino voters.

Only 12 percent say they favor a spending cuts-only approach, according to the survey.

As the fiscal cliff looms and Republican lawmakers look to gain support from Hispanic voters, the survey results indicate that as far as taxes go, Latinos currently agree with Democrats' desire to raise taxes on those making more than $250,000 a year. READ MORE