When it comes to securing a job in the current labor market, the adage of "it's all about who you know" especially rings true.
Networking is a big part of securing a job and advancing a career, which is why networking and connecting with other professionals should be happening all the time.
At the end of July, LinkedIn released its new LinkedIn Profile on Mobile, which redesigned the way its mobile app displays users' profiles. READ MORE
It may not come as a surprise that Hispanics like to travel just as much as anyone else.
But hotel and airline companies should take note that Latinos not only tend to fly more frequently than non-Hispanics, they also spend more money on their vacations, according to a new survey by Think Now research.
“Regardless of income, Hispanics spend more money on average than non-Hispanics on domestic vacations, due at least in part to the fact that they are more likely to fly and because they have larger families,” the online survey, which was conducted between February and May of this year, reported. READ MORE
Being Latino means being part of a rich, diverse culture. Or does it? Some Latinos feel removed from their peers because of their skin color, language ability, or mixed-race heritage. Others have faced criticism for holding political views at odds with the Hispanic mainstream. In fact, many Latinos know all too well what it is like not to fit in with their own community.
“Most people believe that all Latinos look like the stereotypical Puerto Rican or Mexican,” said Mirna Martinez-Santiago, 43, a New York attorney. “I am from Honduras. I am black, racially, but I identify as Latina.” READ MORE
Most people attend networking events to gain something: job leads, referrals, exposure, connections, opportunities to grow their business. Having organized more than 50 networking events over the past 10 years, I’ve seen plenty of these people leave disappointed, dismissing networking as a complete waste of time.
But I’ve also seen the opposite. I’ve seen people walk out with a handful of business cards feeling happy, inspired and excited. The major difference between these two groups of people is this: the people who leave on a high note are those who attend with just one goal in mind — to figure out how they can help others in the room.
True networking occurs when there’s an understanding that everyone in the room has equal value. READ MORE
Hispanics have an appetite, and with an estimated purchasing power of $1.5 trillion by 2015, they are an important audience that grocery chains should not ignore.
Hispanics are spending more frequently on groceries and shopping perishables than other consumer groups in the United States, according to the Nielsen report “Fresh View of Hispanic Consumers.”
Fresh food is the cornerstone of Hispanic grocery shopping, as Hispanics spend $175 more on fresh foods per year than the national average. Fresh food ingredients and home cooking also are central to Hispanic culture, and 75 percent of Hispanic families have a traditional sit-down meal every day, based on the report “The Why Behind The Buy” from Acosta Sales & Marketing and Univision Communications. READ MORE
If you've been following the program, then you know we have a very deep interest in technology - how it's created, how it's used and how it affects the country. We've been particularly interested in groups that haven't had as much access to this vital area. In our "Women in Tech" and "Blacks in Tech" series on Twitter and on the radio, we've been able to experience in real-time the impact of so called minorities and women are making on this country's science and technology engine. And I think it is fair to say the engagement we generated close to 200 million impressions on Twitter demonstrates incredible appetite for knowledge about the contributions of these thought-leaders, entrepreneurs and scientists. And as our program winds down, you know our last program is August first, we wanted to touch base on some of these important issues a least one more time. So we've called upon Ben Jealous. He is the former president and CEO of the NAACP. He recently joined Kaper Capital. It is a Bay Area group that invests in social-impact tech startups. READ MORE
Most people want to become successful as quickly as possible. The problem is, many don't know how to go about doing it.
In a Quora thread titled, “How Can I Accelerate My Personal Growth?” users discussed how they get ahead in their working lives.
Here are 17 of the most practical pieces of career advice we found.
1. Determine what you have to offer. As Abraham Lincoln says, “Whatever you are, be a good one.” Before thinking about how to get ahead, figure out if the direction you are going in places you in the best position to use your natural skills and contribute to those around you. READ MORE
Microlender Accion Texas is partnering with the Dallas-based Hispanic 100 network of female leaders to raise $250,000 for a capital fund for Latina business owners in North Texas.
The “Latinas Empowering Latinas” fundraising campaign, announced Thursday, is part of a larger statewide effort launched by the Eva Longoria Foundation.
Last year, the foundation and Accion launched the Latina Loan Fund to provide small business loans for Latina entrepreneurs in Texas. The Howard G. Buffett Foundation committed $1 million to support the fund.
The fund disbursed 58 small business loans totaling $500,000 last year. Of that amount, 22 loans totaling $161,000 were given to Latina business owners in the Dallas-Fort Worth region, according to Accion. READ MORE
Over the past decade, both the Hispanic population in the U.S. and college enrollment increased dramatically. With more Latina women attending college than ever before, popular media depictions of Hispanic young adults seem to lag behind the complex reality of their often unique experiences in higher education.
Writer Jennifer De Leon , who teaches in the Boston Public Schools and at the Grub Street Creative Writing Center, joined Boston Public Radio to discuss her recently published anthology, Wise Latinas . The book features essays written by several prominent Latina women about their college experiences.
De Leon, who is Guatemalan and holds degrees from Connecticut College, the University of San Francisco and the University of Massachusetts-Boston, said she views this anthology as less a creative project and more of a form of activism to dispel the predominant stereotypes of Latin American women. READ MORE
Read bios of Feature Guests of the 2014 Latina Trailblazers Networking Forum presented by Verizon to be held on Wednesday, July 30 at Drumbar Chicago.
Evangelina Gallegos, Senior Manager, Hemophilia Consumer Marketing, Baxter Healthcare Corporation
Evangelina has nine years of experience in marketing for the healthcare industry. She is currently a Senior Manager within Baxter’s BioScience Consumer Marketing team serving the Hemophilia patient community. She is responsible for patient advocacy programs, medical education, media and community relations. She works closely with the bilingual healthcare educators to build programs for the Latino hemophilia population.
Baxter International Inc. through its subsidiaries, develops, manufactures and markets products that save and sustain the lives of people with hemophilia, immune disorders, infectious diseases, kidney disease, trauma, and other chronic and acute medical conditions.
Evangelina’s experience includes multi-channel marketing, global brand management, digital marketing and community relations. She is also the marketing lead for Latinos@Baxter, a Baxter employee resource group and sits on several commercial boards within the company. She received an award for team collaboration and project execution in 2012.
Through Baxter, Evangelina volunteers with Junior Achievement, as a bilingual facilitator for the elementary work-readiness and entrepreneurship program for children in K-12th grades.
Evangelina has a B.A. in Marketing from Barat College of DePaul University and an MBA from Lake Forest Graduate School of Management. Evangelina is originally from Waukegan, Illinois and is of Mexican descent originating from the state of Michoacan. In her spare time, she enjoys traveling, spending time with her family and volunteering in the community.
Laura Sanchez, CEO, SWATware LLC.
Laura Sanchez is the founder and CEO of SWATware LLC, a full-service Information Technology (IT) firm that delivers comprehensive IT and Web solutions, with a focus in Cyber Security. Laura’s intent when founding SWATware was to create a one-stop IT consulting firm that develops and executes customized solutions for small and medium-sized businesses. Her goal is for SWATware to become an integral partner for each client with the mantra “Big enough to provide all of your solutions and small enough to care for all of your concerns.”
With over ten years of experience as a consultant, Laura has assisted numerous businesses in improving their online presence, while at the same time improving the security and reliability of their IT infrastructure. She is one of the few existing Latina entrepreneurs in Chicago’s Technology field, combining her quality services and passion for IT by sharing her experience with small business owners in various capacities. Laura has utilized her proficiency in both English and Spanish to perform work internationally and is well recognized for her expertise in the IT field. She has spoken for the City of Chicago (BACP), the IHCC (Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce), HACIA, UNAM Chicago and other organizations dedicated to educational and economic development that encourage the proper use of technology both professionally and personally.
Laura received her Master’s degree in Innovation and Business Development from the Tec de Monterrey, one of the top universities in Mexico. She graduated Summa Cum Laude when receiving her undergraduate degree in International Business and Marketing. In 2013, Laura was awarded the Nueva Latina Estrella Award in the Technology category by Verizon, and was an honorable mention recipient for the 2013 Enterprising Women of the Year Awards by Enterprising Women Magazine that same year. These awards are meant to honor women business owners who have demonstrated high potential-growth and stand out as leaders in their communities.
Rosa Zamora, Strategy Consultant, Education Initiatives, CE Social Impact
Rosa Zamora is dedicated to building a national cross-sector collaborative of schools, community based organizations, higher education institutions, companies, and government associations with a goal to increase college attainment for underrepresented students. Being the first in her family to graduate from college Rosa Zamora understands the challenges many first generation colleges students face and is motivated to helpings students across the country achieve their life dreams. Her efforts to decrease the education achievement gap go beyond her role as a Strategy Consultant to serving on the KIPP Chicago Advisory Board, Mujeres Latinas en Accion’s Young Professional Advisory Council, and the Chicago Community Trust’s Latino Giving Circle. She previously served on the Mujeres de HACE Advisory Board, a professional development program designed to empower high potential women to become leaders in their fields. She is an alumna of the Metropolitan Leadership Institute and YNPN’s Leadership Institute. Rosa has also held positions with organizations such as Lutheran Social Services, Instituto del Progreso Latino, YWCA, Junior Achievement, New Futuro, and College Greenlight. Rosa was the 2012 recipient of the Verizon Nueva Latina Estrella Award for her contributions in education.
She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of Illinois, a Bachelor of Arts in Marketing Communications from Columbia College Chicago. She is in the process of completing a Masters of Business Administration at National Louis University. In addition to these roles, Rosa is a proud mom of two young daughters.
Silvia Bonilla, Director, Small Business Development Center at Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
Silvia Bonilla currently serves as Director of the Small Business Development Center at the Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (IHCC), the leading Hispanic business, networking, advocacy and development organization in Illinois. In this role, she is responsible for the overall administration of the program, leading day-to-day operations as they relate to all aspects of small business.
Silvia is an experienced business consultant with an expertise in small business development, providing one-on-one consultation in both English and Spanish to small business owners on all phases of their business. Her services include, but are not limited to, financing, business plan creation and development, feasibility analysis, loan packaging, franchising, government contracts, intellectual property, legal, manufacturing, marketing, technology and product development. Silvia is also responsible for developing strategic assistance plans designed to stimulate business growth as well as various business educational trainings.
Silvia has spoken and participated as a panelist at many business-related venues such as at the City of Chicago’s Monthly Business Education Workshops Series, Instituto del Progreso Latino’s Mujeres Avanzando Program, Women Business Development Center’s Child Care Business Expo, Chicago City Treasurer’s Expo Business Workshops, and the U.S. Department of State’s La Idea Competition, to name a few. She is also a member of The Chicago Council on Global Affairs and runs the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Program, which focuses mainly on accounting, human resources, negotiation, and marketing.
Born in El Salvador, Silvia received her Bachelor of Arts and History in Education from Loyola University in Chicago as well as her Master’s in Business Administration. She has participated in two certificate programs, one focusing on nonprofit growth leadership at the University of Notre Dame, and the other on executive education at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
Silvia spent over 5 years teaching K-4th grade at CPS prior to joining the Chamber in 2008. Her love of teaching now fuels her passion for assisting small businesses in their mission to grow and thrive.
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The White House recently hosted Summits on Working Families across the country, focusing on “how we can strengthen our nation’s workplaces to better support working families, boost businesses’ bottom lines, and ensure America’s global economic competitiveness in the coming decades.”
The June 23 summit in Washington brought hundreds of participants from labor and nonprofit organizations, businesses, elected officials and citizens who came together to talk about how to build a workforce and a workplace that meet the needs of today.
The Working Families Summit presented some facts on how our workforce has changed: “Just as the makeup of the typical American family has shifted, so has the dynamic of our workforce. Women, particularly mothers, have increasingly entered the workforce and now make up roughly half of all workers in the United States. Only 27 percent of mothers were breadwinners or co-breadwinners in American families in 1967. Fast forward to 2011, and nearly two-thirds of mothers are breadwinners or co-breadwinners.” READ MORE
In preparation for the upcoming Latinas Think Big Innovation Summit this October, at Google's campus in Silicon Valley, I have been on a quest to identify Latinas around the country who are innovating in technology and across STEM fields.
I admit I stepped into this search with some trepidation - informed by reports and articles that continuously characterize Latinas as avid consumers and early adapters of technology, but significantly less engaged in the creation of new technology tools, in tech entrepreneurship or innovation.
But, as I delved deep into my social media networks, inquiring for names of Latinas who were innovating in technology, I began to see the new faces of innovation. Online research also revealed these new faces - as I pieced together "Top Latinas in STEM or Technology" lists, articles and interviews from online magazines, news digital platforms and blogs. Not surprisingly, I also found many of these women actively engaged on Twitter, Facebook and Google+ communities. READ MORE
2014 has been a rough year for English-language Latino media, argues Alfredo Estrada, editor of LATINO Magazine, with two flagship outlets folding and a third signaling it may do the same. The result is a growing Latino population that is, in Estrada's words increasingly less informed.
They're folding like cheap card tables. Since the beginning of the year, we've seen the demise of NBCLatino.com, an English-language website for Latinos, as well as CNN Latino, Time Warner's year-long effort to create programming for the U.S. Hispanic market. Now come rumors that Poder, Televisa's magazine providing "Intelligence for the Business Elite," may cease publication.
Hold on, amigo. Isn't the Latino market growing in demographic leaps and bounds? Don't we have a zillion dollars in purchasing power? Didn't we decide the election? One would think that Latino media should be thriving. READ MORE
Whether to enroll in graduate school is a decision that plagues Americans in all stages of their careers, but particularly those who may have worked for several years already but are considering a jump to the next level. Many jobs now require additional study beyond a bachelor's degree, but warnings about the burden of student debt may deter those considering this option.
To determine the best and worst master's degrees for jobs in 2014, Forbes consulted with compensation data site Payscale.com to obtain mid-career data for 45 popular master's degrees. The mid-career median salary of those holding each degree was then averaged with the Bureau of Labor Statistics' projected employment growth of jobs associated with each degree.
Many of the degrees and associated jobs appearing on each end of this ranking may seem surprising. Political science and international relations, for example, are two of the degrees that make the best list. READ MORE
From music to politics to business, Hispanics are remaking America. TIME presents 25 titans leading the Latino charge into the 21st century.
Jorge Ramos
As a 24-year-old reporter in Mexico City, Jorge Ramos felt choked by more than just the capital's notorious smog. Tired of censorship from Mexico's then ruling party, the P.R.I., Ramos bolted for Los Angeles in 1983, and in just three years he won the top CONNews anchor spot at Univision, the U.S.'s largest Spanish-language network. An Emmy-winning journalist who combines looks and eloquence with bluntness and tenacity, Ramos, 47, once got slugged by Fidel Castro's bodyguard for asking Castro if Cuba would ever hold democratic elections. READ MORE
In a recent interview with ABC News Univision, I reiterated what happens when you underestimate the Latino voter and don’t bother to make the effort to truly understand the community and its cultural values. Perhaps now with both political parties finally starting to acknowledge the importance of the Latino vote – backed up by Big Data and a fast-growing community that also extends to their use of mobile technology and social media – the business world will finally step up to the Hispanic “super-consumer” opportunity before them.
The Hispanic community is one of the greatest untapped markets we have ever seen. Already the largest minority in the U.S., their numbers continue to grow faster than any other group. Between 2000 and 2010, the Hispanic population grew by 43 percent, or four times the nation’s 9.7 percent growth rate. READ MORE
Community Healthcare Network (CHN) operates 12 federally qualified health centers in some of the most underserved communities in New York City. Each year, the nonprofit provides more than 75,000 people, many who are uninsured, with critical access to basic primary care, mental health services, nutritional counseling, dentistry, and more.
Community-based care is at the core of CHN's mission. The organization believes in offering health care services in locations that are easily accessible to its patients. To better serve those individuals, who are not as likely to visit a health center, CHN offers confidential educational outreach and sexual health services through its medical mobile van weekly throughout Manhattan and Queens. The mobile van also responds to specific health crises as they arise.
During these health care visits, counselors and physicians say they encounter an increasingly aging and diverse population confronting higher rates of obesity, heart disease and diabetes. READ MORE
Denny's Corporation is reaching out to its Latino fans on Facebook.
The American diner chain, best known for its "Grand Slam" breakfasts, recently launched a 'Denny's Latino' Facebook page in an effort to engage with its customers and get the attention of the 23 million Latinos who are active on the social site. More than one in five of Denny's customers are Latinos, the company states.
Already attracting 883 likes, Denny's most recent post has netted 60 shares and 247 likes for a 'Red, White & Blue Remix' video post featuring a Latino rapper who sings about the Grand Slam breakfast. READ MORE
Everyone is networking these days: going to conventions, building up LinkedIn contacts and the like. But now what? How can you actually get some value out of meeting Fred at that alumni event, or Jeannette at the sales conference? LinkedIn’s billionaire chairman and co-founder, Reid Hoffman, would like to help.
In a new book called “The Alliance: Managing Talent in the Network Age,” Hoffman and two co-authors spend 147 pages answering various “Now what?” questions. Their early chapters focus mostly on a variety of career paths that people might take, and their advice makes sense mostly for people in “asset-light” businesses such as consulting and high tech, where project-hopping is common, easy and admired. I didn’t find much that was relevant for anyone in traditional manufacturing or a geographically confined job. READ MORE
Being a job seeker in today’s workforce is a challenge. There’s isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution to help job seekers land a job. In fact, if you want to be a standout job seeker, you have to go above and beyond to land on the radar of employers.
Many job seekers today wonder why they must work so hard to find a job they love. After all, shouldn’t landing a job be easy? Unfortunately, when employers hire new employees, they want candidates with the strongest talent and most experience. Employers believe this is a guaranteed way to improve the success of their company.
Here are some tips for job seekers looking to stand out during their job search:
1. Show how you’re a service to your industry. READ MORE
