Blog

Sephora closed all of its U.S. stores for an hour Wednesday June 05 to host “inclusion workshops” for its 16,000 employees, just over a month after R&B star SZA said she had security called on her while shopping at a store in California.

The beauty retailer said the training had been in development months before SZA’s experience, which undermined the company’s efforts to cast itself as a champion of diversity. Sephora, which apologized to SZA last month, said the incident “does reinforce why belonging is now more important than ever.” READ MORE AT TIME

The Indy Chamber’s Hispanic Business Council is launching a program to provide management training to Hispanic business owners in central Indiana. Accelerate Latinx is a partnership with national economic development nonprofit Interise. The seven-month program, slated to begin in September, provides participants with education in business strategy, financial planning and sales and marketing, among other topics. READ MORE AT INSIDE INDIANA BUSINESS

Silicon Valley is entering a new phase in its quest for diversity and inclusion in the technology industry. Some advocates call this part “the end of the beginning,”

While the diversity and inclusion movement has made some gains in the last few years, it has still suffered severe setbacks. On one hand, tech employees are recognizing their immense power when they speak up and organize. On the other hand, those accused of sexual harassment and misconduct are too often facing too few consequences. Meanwhile, people of color and women still receive too little venture funding, and tech companies are inching along at a glacial pace toward diverse representation and inclusion. READ MORE AT TECHCRUNCH

For the first time, non-Hispanic white residents now make up less than half (49.9%) of the nation’s under age 15 population, newly released 2018 U.S. Census Bureau estimates show. The new data highlight the increasing racial diversity of the nation’s overall population, for which non-Hispanic whites now comprise only slightly more than three-fifths (60.4%) of all residents.

But the fact that white children under 15 have already become a minority in their age group puts an exclamation point on the fact that the nation’s diversity is percolating from the “bottom up” as the white population ages. READ MORE AT BROOKINGS

Today, there are 4.65 million Hispanic-owned companies – representing 14% of the 33 million total U.S. businesses. And their growth continues to vastly outpace that of other U.S. businesses. In fact, Hispanic businesses grew 40.2% from 2012 to 2018 – more than twice the 18.8% growth rate of other U.S. firms. Today, about 1 out of every 7 businesses is run by a Hispanic American entrepreneur. READ MORE AT GLOBAL NEWS WIRE

Incidents of workplace bias aren't hard to come by.

Every year, thousands of workers file complaints with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission – the agency created to eradicate discrimination on the job and investigate workers’ grievances. And high-profile cases abound of employees filing lawsuits against companies citing unfair and unequal treatment.

As minorities, allies and bottom-line focused execs work to diversify organizations that have failed to welcome and support all workers, it's important to spotlight the companies that seem to be getting it right. READ MORE AT USA TODAY

The explosive growth of the Hispanic community in the U.S. state of Texas is making them the largest population group in the state. But voting, education and poverty are all issues.

Within the next few years, Texas will make history as it will become the first state with a majority Hispanic population. The shift is the result of increased migration and a rising birth rate. READ MORE AT CGTN AMERICA

Requiring paid sick leave will deprive many Hispanics of accomplishing the American dream of (owning) businesses.

The proposed Bernalillo County Paid Sick Leave Ordinance will create a disproportionate hardship on Hispanics who own small businesses and the Hispanic and poor populations that they serve. The ordinance that the County Commission is considering would require businesses with even two employees to provide paid sick leave. READ MORE AT ALBUQUERQUE JOURNAL

According to a team led by Raj Chetty, a Harvard economist and director of Opportunity Insights, we’re losing Einsteins every day. His lab’s recently released data show that we’re missing out on breakthrough innovations that, statistically speaking, should be occurring all over the country.

Chetty’s work found that children born in low-income and middle-class families, students of color, and children from the South are less likely to become inventors than students from the small remainder of other U.S. families. READ MORE AT FORBES

The U.S. Hispanic population has grown by 83% since 2000, making it the second-fastest growth segment according to a Claritas Report, The Hispanic American Market Report. That means that almost one in five Americans are Hispanic.

While growth occurred in some of the expected major Hispanic markets like Los Angeles, New York, Houston, Miami, Dallas and Chicago, the southeastern U.S. saw sizable increases in places like Atlanta, Washington D.C., Tampa and Orlando.

The report goes on to describe what this means in household spending and how Hispanics spend differently. Hispanics spend 15% more on meat and eggs and 9% more on fruits and vegetables than the average U.S. household. With larger families and more children in the household, Hispanics also outspend in the following categories. READ MORE AT MEDIAPOST

In the last 20 years, the Hispanic population in Central Indiana has grown by almost 500 percent, and some say jobs are the reason for it. A stable job market and quality of life may have contributed to the quiet settling of a Hispanic community in Indianapolis in recent decades.

And as the Hispanic/Latino population in the city has grown, so has the Hispanic business sector. READ MORE AT INDYSTAR

Following a year of increased educational efforts through hands-on workshops, a team of three women fromSpanish Coalition for Housing (SCH) were honored for their outstanding contributions in Education at the 8th Annual Mujeres Destacadas Awards and Luncheon. Together the team of women have continuously worked to increase access to Chicago Housing Authority (CHA) programs and services for thousands of families in diverse communities through these hands-on workshops.

Hosted by La Raza Newspaper, Mujeres Destacadas is an initiative in which Chicago Latinas are featured honored for their outstanding contributions in the fields of Arts & Culture, Business, Leadership, Education and Health. Typically, each category recognizes one individual for her accomplishments, but this year the Education category recognized a team of three exceptional women – Lydia Rodriguez, Karla Valadez and Mayra Camacho – for their success.

 “La Raza’s Mujeres Destacadas recognizes eight great Latinas for their achievement and community commitment and also wants to be an opportunity for outreach and empowerment for many more women in Chicago,” said Jesus del Toro, head of La Raza Newspaper in Chicago. “Our eight Mujeres Destacadas are great examples of our capacity for success and our powerful will to provide a generous hand to others.”

Together, Rodriguez, Valadez and Camacho, educate the community through workshops in the Belmont-Cragin, Gage Park, East Side and Back of the Yards neighborhoods as part of CHA Community Alliance Diversity Outreach Initiative. The hands-on workshops teach attendees about affordable housing, senior housing, job seeking, Section 3 businesses and more.

“Having grown up in the area that I teach, I have a wealth of knowledge about the community and am able to connect with individuals on a more personal level,” said Lydia Rodriguez, Senior CHA Outreach Coordinator at SCH. “Karla, Mayra and myself love helping people and dedicating ourselves to educating the community and working with our clients every step of the way.”

 As part of Community Alliance, SCH has educated more than 3,800 individuals through the workshops, and over 1,000 individuals have taken action from SCH’s outreach efforts, such as applying for senior housing, applying or updating housing assistance applications and creating Section 3 profiles in the CHA portal, which identifies low-income individuals who can benefit from HUD-financed employment and economic opportunities. SCH staff invites anyone with questions to call, email or visit one of the three offices for dedicated service and assistance. (Main Office: 773-342-7575, 199 N. Pulaski Road; Pilsen Office: 312-850-2660, 1915 S. Blue Island; Southeast Office: 773-933-7575, 9010 S. Commercial).

###

As the baby-boom generation retires and new opportunities open, Hispanics in Milwaukee should be among the biggest beneficiaries of the demand to fill high- paying jobs.

After all, they have accounted for all of the Milwaukee metro area’s population growth since 2000 — an increase of nearly 75,000 that offsets the loss of 68,000 white residents, according to U.S. Census Bureau data.

But that’s not happening. READ MORE AT MILWAUKEE NEIGHBORHOOD NEWS SERVICE

Read biographies of feature guests for the 2019 Law & Government Networking Forum being held tomorrow June 20 at SX Sky Bar Chicago! 

MODERATOR

Tsi-tsi-ki Felix, Host of National TV News Show, Politica Ya | Lead News Anchor, Univision Washington D.C.

Tsi-tsi-ki Félix, is a multiple award winning journalist, speaker, and philanthropist. She is currently the host of “PoliticaYa" a national politics show in Washington DC, and the news anchor for "Univisión Washington Newscasts". Tsi-tsi-ki, from Michoacán Mexico, carries strong roots in her name which means “flower” in Purépecha, a strong pre-Columbian civilization that continues to thrive today.

As the oldest of 4 girls, Tsi-tsi-ki moved to the U.S. at a young age, 15, when she gave her first formal radio presentation on Radio Exito in Reno, Nevada. Ever since, she has immersed herself in community betterment, mentoring, and directing youth and women’s groups to strive for self and social goals.

Tsi-tsi-ki has twice been speaker for TED talks on subjects such as Immigration, Freedom of the Press and Personal Adversity. She has anchored Noticiero Univision, and Despierta America newscasts, and her work has been recognized with multiple Emmy Awards for investigative series. She has won twice the coveted TV News Emmy for "Outstanding Achievement by a News Anchor" among other honors throughout her career.

DISCUSSION PANELISTS

Teresa Reyes, Deputy Chief of Staff, Office of Lieutenant Governor, Juliana Stratton

Teresa Reyes is proud to serve as Deputy Chief of Staff for Lt. Governor Juliana Stratton. Previously, she served as Director of Latino Political Outreach for JB Pritzker for Governor and Director of the United States-Mexico Chamber of Commerce.

Teresa’s experience also includes serving as the Director of the Governor’s Office of New Americans and as District Director for United States Representative Luis Gutierrez. But what she is most proud of is helping out in the family’s small taqueria business.

Graduate of Chicago State University. She’s a native Chicagoan and grew up in Chicago’s far South East Side. Teresa likes to indulge in great conversations over food and wine.

Griselda Vega Samuel, Regional Counsel - Midwest, LULAC

Ms. Vega Samuel is the Regional Counsel, Midwest for the Chicago office of Mexican American Legal & Educational Fund (MALDEF). As Regional Counsel she is responsible for the daily operations and overall management of the regional office which covers the following states: Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri Minnesota, Michigan Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Tennessee, Ohio, and Wisconsin. Within MALDEF's designated program areas – voting rights, employment, education, and immigrant rights - she works with the President and General Counsel, Director of Litigation, staff attorneys, and other Regional Counsels to determine the litigation and public policy advocacy priorities for the Midwest regional office.

Most recently she was the Senior Director of Anti-Trafficking Program (ATP) at Safe Horizon in Brooklyn, NY; and she is also an attorney with over 17 years of experience in working with low-income clients in the areas of litigation, policy-advocacy and education. Ms. Vega Samuel’s advocacy work extends to both U.S. and international fronts, where she has worked on human trafficking legislation, as well as, worked on policy issues related to migrant labor rights, both within the U.S. and Mexican legal frameworks.

Ms. Vega Samuel’s work in Mexico and Central America, with Justice in Motion (formerly known as Global Workers Justice Alliance), allowed her to partner with organizations from diverse regions of Mexico, and developed a unified strategy, with region-specific goals around the issues of migration, human and labor rights. During her time there she also specialized in training and educating, bilingual and multi-cultural advocates and their communities, as well as presented at numerous conferences, including being a Rapporteur at the United Nation’s Global Forum on Migration and Development Conference.

Ms. Vega Samuel graduated from the University of Iowa-College of Law, and is licensed in both Illinois and Washington State. Griselda is a native of Chicago, IL and her family hails from Guanajuato, Mexico.

Homero Tristan, Attorney at Law and Partner, Tristan & Cervantes

Homero Tristan is the Founding Partner of Tristan & Cervantes. His practice includes counseling companies in Labor & Employment Law, as well as Corporate Transactions. Formerly, Mr. Tristan was an attorney with the National Labor Relations Board for the Chicago Region, where he investigated hundreds of unfair labor practice charges and prosecuted numerous trials. Later, he entered private practice at Jackson Lewis LLP, one of the largest national firms dedicated to representing management in the area of Labor & Employment Law.
Mr. Tristan is active in the local political landscape, including election strategy and election law. The firm routinely advises clients regarding Government Relations. He is one of the founders of the Chicago Latino Public Affairs Committee, a political action committee that is engaged in state and local races. He often serves as an advisor to elected officials and assists in drafting legislation and ordinances. In 2008, former Mayor Richard M. Daley appointed Mr. Tristan to serve as Commissioner of Human Resources for the City of Chicago.

Dora Cornelio, Assistant State's Attorney, Cook County State's Attorney's Office

Dora is an Assistant State’s Attorney at the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office in the Civil Actions Bureau. Dora practices in state and federal court in the area of Civil Rights and Torts litigation. Dora received her undergraduate degree from DePaul University and her Juris Doctor from Chicago-Kent College of Law in 2018.

As a law student, Dora was the 2018 President and the 2017 Vice President of Chicago-Kent’s Hispanic Latino Law Student Association (HLLSA). She also served as the Diversity Chair for the law school’s Student Bar Association for two consecutive years. During her leadership, Dora advocated for and increased academic, mentorship, and networking opportunities for minority students at Chicago-Kent.

Dora has been an active member of the Hispanic Lawyers Association of Illinois (HLAI) since her first year as a law student in 2015 and received the HLAI Law Student of the Year Award in 2018. Dora is also an active member of other local bar associations. Dora serves as a board member on Wilbur Wright College’s Paralegal Program Advisory Board and Casa Central’s Emerging Leaders Auxiliary Board. Dora enjoys volunteering and is an advocate for diversity and inclusion in the legal field.

Don't miss out. Time is running out to register!

To recruit workers, tell your story. Business leaders need to communicate why their companies are great places for women to work. This can include talking about family-friendly policies and their commitment to elevating women. They should also hold up women in their company, particularly those in senior roles, as examples of the type of people they want to hire.

Workplace culture needs to be filtered from the top. READ MORE AT THE NEW YORK TIMES

Statistically, U.S. Latinas can expect a long life. At 84 years, Latina life expectancy is second only to Asian American women (85.8 years) and it's tied with Asian American men.

But experts point out that a longer life can bring health and financial challenges, and Latinas tend to be poorer and rely heavily on Social Security for their retirement income. READ MORE AT NBC NEWS

It’s no secret Texas has become one of the fastest growing states in the nation, and Comal County has become of the fastest growing counties.

If the projections of Texas demographers are accurate, the Texas of tomorrow will look very different than the Texas of today both in structure and in its people.

Driving much of the growth in Texas — and the entire nation — is the boom of the Hispanic population — a population that will almost double by 2050. READ MORE AT THE HERALD-ZEITUNG

Diversity without inclusion is often bad news for everyone. The ability to reach arbitrary employment percentage quotas is not the same as building an inclusive workforce, especially when there's no change to the underlying culture of exclusion and mistrust.

A high churn rate due to a disempowered workforce can be expensive and damage a brand’s reputation, particularly when newly hired diverse workers are prevented from making productive contributions. READ MORE AT FORBES

The number of unemployed Hispanics fell from 1,198,000 to 1,196,000 - the fewest Hispanics unemployed since August of 2007 (1,190,000).

The number of Hispanics employed rose to 27,493,000 from 27,348,000, but remained off from its record high of 27,701,000 in December 2018. The number of Hispanics participating in the workplace increased in May as Hispanics' labor force participation rate increased to 66.2% from 65.9% in April. READ MORE AT CNSNEWS

Job openings outnumber job seekers by a record gap, the Wall Street Journal reports today. There were a seasonally adjusted 7.45 million unfilled jobs at the end of April compared to 6.2 million Americans looking for work.

With workers so much in demand, there exists a never-seen-before-in-our-lifetimes opportunity to increase social mobility. READ MORE AT BACON'S REBELLION