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I was sitting at a lunch counter on Monday, less than 24 hours before the polls opened, thinking about the one thing that was keeping me up most nights: on Election Day, would Latinos show up and translate our potential to political power?

Just then, I heard two voices—loud, vibrant, New Yorker accents belonging to a pair of strong women. One said:

“You voting?” And then the other, “Why? It’s the same old shit.”

I turned to see the voices and their speakers. Two 20-something Latinas, working behind the counter and playing out my worst nightmares. Didn’t they see how personal this election was going to be? All the issues—health care, education, choice—that were up for grabs? Didn’t they understand what was at stake for women just like them? And as voters of color, didn’t they know that so many efforts had been made to block their vote?

Overhearing this conversation made me start to really wonder what kind of message Latino voters might send on November 6. READ MORE

The holiday season is around the corner. Turkey motifs replace Halloween, and then -- POW! -- the all-out flurry of the ho-ho frenzy.

’Tis the season.

Did you know that Hispanics celebrate holidays beyond “traditional” American holidays?

Awareness and knowledge of connecting with Hispanic consumers provide valuable cultural insights and allow you to specifically engage this audience in more innovative and relevant ways.

Here are a few holidays, festivals and fiestas that are part of our culture:

• Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), Nov. 2 -- This brings pre-Hispanic traditions into the present, especially amongst Mexican-Americans. It’s a celebration of life, a time to honor those who have passed. There’s nothing morbid about it. Food, drink, celebration (and sugar skulls) galore. If you’re in the baked goods business, think pan de muerto.

• Las Posadas, mid-December through Noche Buena (Christmas Eve) -- Celebrations with families gathering at homes and enjoying traditions. Originally, this involved a processional carrying a doll representing the Christ child with images of Joseph and Mary riding a burro, parading through the streets. These processionals would stop at a pre-selected home and seek lodging for the night. The translation of “las posadas” is “the lodgings.” READ MORE

Among the 10.9 million homes that went into foreclosure between 2007 and 2011, more than half of the “spillover” cost to nearby homes have led to a $1 trillion loss in home equity for African-American and Latino families., according to a new report by the Center for Responsible Lending titled, “Collateral Damage: The Spillover Costs of Foreclosures.”

The report said, “Families impacted in minority neighborhoods have lost or will lose on average, $37,084 or 13 percent of their home value.” By comparison, the overall average American homeowner affected by nearby foreclosures will lose only 7 percent of their home value, or $21,077.

The most recently-available census data shows that African-Americans and Latinos comprise less than 30 percent of the nation’s population. Yet together, neighborhoods of color shoulder more than half of the $1.95 trillion in the drain on neighboring property values as a result of foreclosures.

“CRL’s report is troubling evidence of how much the economic cost of foreclosures are spilling over into communities all over America,” said Wade Henderson, president and CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. “Communities of color—which have been targeted for years by predatory lenders, and abused for years by mortgage servicers—have been practically drowning. Until policymakers get serious about reducing foreclosures and restoring meaningful home ownership in all communities, a full economic recovery will likely remain out of reach.” READ MORE

Betty Garcia embraces the term “immigrant entrepreneur” as a badge of pride.

She says her family hasn’t had it as easy as native-born Americans in turning Tortilleria Sonora, whose name hints at both the product and her family’s origins, into a successful business.

“It’s important to recognize backgrounds,” said Garcia, 37, who has helped her Mexican parents run the Des Moines shop for the last four years. “Not to put any other culture down, but Americans have it easier because they are more knowledgeable about the system and have grown up with more tools and resources.”

A daylong summit on Nov. 10 will teach immigrant entrepreneurs like Garcia how to overcome obstacles in business. Garcia’s family will receive the Outstanding Immigrant Business Award at the fifth annual Immigrant Entrepreneurs Summit for their successes. READ MORE

A tax on soda would carry the greatest health benefits for black and Latino Californians, who face the highest risks of diabetes and heart disease, according to recent research findings.

The study found that if a penny-per-ounce tax was applied to soda, cuts in consumption would result in an 8 percent decline in diabetes cases among blacks and Latinos. The statewide reduction in new diabetes cases is projected at 3 to 5.6 percent, according to researchers from UC San Francisco, Columbia University and Oregon State University, who released their findings at last week's American Public Health Association annual meeting in San Francisco.

The study was unveiled as a sugar-sweetened beverage tax faces votes in El Monte, in Los Angeles County, and Richmond, in the Bay Area. A statewide excise tax was proposed but died in the California Legislature in 2010.

Harold Goldstein, executive director of the California Center for Public Health Advocacy, said he has visited Richmond to urge support for the measure. He said he heard residents speak of loved ones who’ve been affected by diabetes complications – such as limb amputations and blindness – during a recent town hall meeting at a Richmond church. READ MORE

An organization that helps train and support female business owners in Iowa will start a program that aims to do the same for rural Hispanic entrepreneurs.

Iowans for Social and Economic Development received a $200,000 grant from an agency that supports efforts to reduce poverty and help people build sustainable lives. The grant, which will be handed out over the next two years, allows the agency to start Emprendedores Latinos de Iowa, a program that will roll out first in Muscatine and surrounding counties.

That area includes Columbus Junction, a city in Louisa County of about 1,900 people that has a roughly 48 percent Hispanic population, according to 2010 U.S. Census data.

ISED Ventures President Mike Tramontina said his agency will create an advisory board and start hiring staff as early as next month. Eventually, he said, the goal is to expand the program beyond just southeast Iowa.

“There is no question there are specific communities that have got a high concentration of Latino businesses,” Tramontina said. “We will probably hope to expand into those areas, but we have to first make sure we are having an effect on local businesses before moving on.”

The award was part of $3 million handed out by the St. Paul, Minn.-based Northwest Area Foundation, which provides support to agencies in Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Washington and Oregon.

Amelia Lobo, the director of ISED’s Women’s Business Center, said the new program will likely mirror the one used at her center. The Women’s Business Center offers 10-week classes that touch on various topics, including social media, access to capital and regulations. The program will bring in local experts to meet with entrepreneurs. READ MORE

The Adelante Tour is in Houston and the women driving the movement are on a mission.

Adelante Movement founder Nely Galan, author Sandra Cisneros and Nell Merlino, founder of the “Count Me In” nonprofit, are wrapping up the three day LATISM Conference with a free forum Saturday afternoon at the Hyatt Regency.

The Adelante Movement is about personal, economic and cultural empowerment. It may sound lofty, but this about more than words. It’s about action and inspiring Latinas with practical advice and tangible information.

“I got the idea for Adelante when I got on the advisory board of Coca-Cola,” Galan says. “The research said that Latina women in America are the number one economic emerging market in the world.” It also showed the opportunities for Latinas that were not being taken advantage of.

Galan talks about earmarked government contracts, available start up money, franchising opportunities and more. She decided to become part of the solution by showing women these opportunities and explaining how to take advantage of them. READ MORE

Media Contacts:

Shannelle Armstrong-Fowler                                                                               Nathaly Gamino

Sears Holdings Group                                                                                          Flowers Communications

847-286-0715                                                                                                    312-228-8832

shannelle.armstrong@searshc.com                                                                    ngamino@flowerscomm.com

FOR RELEASE

KMART^® LAUNCHES LATINA SMART^SM INTERNSHIP PROGRAM

Retailer Celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month with New Internship Program 

Hoffman Estates, Ill., Oct. 17, 2012 – As the celebration of National Hispanic Heritage Month draws to a close, Kmart has announced the launch of the inaugural Latina Smart internship program. Five retail-minded Latina Smart interns will be selected to participate in a 10-week paid summer internship at Sears Holdings corporate headquarters in Hoffman Estates, Ill. Interns will gain on-the-job experience, develop industry connections and receive mentorship and career development counseling throughout the program.

According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) 2011 student survey, paid internships correlate to job-search success; and, new college graduates who participated in internships did far better in the job market than their peers without experience.

Latina Smart interns will document their journey in real time via Latina Smart social media channels as they shadow a series of departments and job functions to gain an understanding of the retail process from business strategy and merchandising to store execution and customer experience. During the 10-week program, interns will be given the opportunity to contribute to vendor negotiations, participate in advertising and promotional planning, work on public relations and marketing activations and perform financial analysis.

“Kmart embraces the opportunity to support the ambitions of our diverse community,” said Andrew Stein, interim chief marketing officer, Kmart. “Through the Latina Smart internship program, we aim to empower young Hispanic women looking to enter the competitive workforce by providing professional advancement opportunities that will bridge the gap between education and experience.”

Between Oct. 17 and Dec. 31, candidates can submit a resume and 200-word essay via Kmart.com/LatinaSmart. Selected candidates will be notified of their acceptance in April of 2013 and the internship program will begin on May 20, 2013.

Established in 2011, the Latina Smart initiative was designed to serve as an online community dedicated to empowering Hispanic women. In its introductory year, the program created a scholarship fund that awarded $25,000 in tuition assistance to graduating high school seniors and post-secondary students. Building from this momentum, the Latina Smart program works to continue providing unique opportunities for Kmart’s diverse customer.

For more information about internship requirements, qualifications and the application process, please visit www.kmart.com/LatinaSmart.    

About Kmart

Kmart, a wholly owned subsidiary of Sears Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ: SHLD), is a mass merchandising company and part of ShopYourWay, a social shopping experience where members have the ability to earn points and receive benefits across a wide variety of physical and digital formats through ShopYourWay.com.  Kmart offers customers quality products through a portfolio of exclusive brands that include Sofia by Sofia Vergara, Jaclyn Smith, Joe Boxer, Route 66 and Smart Sense. For more information visit the company's website at www.kmart.com |Sears Holdings Corporation website at www.searsholdings.com.| Facebook: www.facebook.com/kmart

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Univision and other Spanish language networks have long attributed their high ratings among Latinos to the fact that viewers watch their programming live.

But while many Latinos still flock to television sets to watch the network’s plot-heavy telenovelas, live sporting events and news, a growing segment of the population is also viewing media on mobile devices like smartphones, tablets and on mobile applications.

Figures from the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project show that almost half of Hispanics in the United States own a smartphone, while 20 percent own a tablet device.

On Monday, Univision will officially start its first digital network, UVideos, which will offer more than 1,500 hours of long-form programming and about 200 short clips a day free to users. The content will be available as a mobile application for smartphones and tablets and online at UVideos.com.

In an effort to go beyond its traditional Spanish-only format, Univision will also make the content and the user interface on UVideos available in English, with subtitles on many of the network’s shows. In January, Univision began adding English subtitles on some of its television programming. READ MORE

Spanish speaking Hispanic women in the United States are less likely to receive epidurals during childbirth, when compared to English speaking Latinas and non-Hispanic white women, and according to a new study from Northwestern University, language barriers may play a key role in the pain management disparity. This is just one more health disparity observed among the Hispanic population in the U.S.

“Our study was the first to evaluate disparities among English and Spanish-speaking Hispanic women admitted for delivery of their first infant,” said in a statement study author Paloma Toledo, M.D., M.P.H., Department of Anesthesiology and Program for Health Equity, Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine. “We wanted to confirm if language disparities impact whether or not Hispanic women receive an epidural.” READ MORE

Since the beginning of the debates, the election has taken on a bit of a “tortoise and the hare” feel. Many of us tuned in to the first debate expecting to see Obama beating Romney by leaps and bounds, wooing voters with the superior intellect and charisma that won him the 2008 election. Instead, both conservatives and liberals agree he “phoned it in,” looking as if staying awake was all the effort he could muster.

This week Obama again displayed a startlingly hare-like degree of overconfidence with his “off the record” remarks about Latino voters. Talking to a reporter at the Des Moines Register, he claimed, “Should I win a second term, a big reason I will win a second term is because the Republican nominee and the Republican Party have so alienated the fastest-growing demographic group in the country, the Latino community.” And the GOP has certainly fumbled during this election cycle, from Romney saying it would be easier for him to win the election if he were Latino, to Latino voter suppression throughout the Southwest.

However, Latino voters may not be as solidly pro-Obama as he would like to think. He has deported more people than any president in American history. In the debates, he referred to some undocumented immigrants as “gangbangers.” Many college-bound Latinos see his compromised work on deferred action as belying his stated support for the DREAM Act — and in general, Latinos say they’re less likely to vote at all. Romney’s “slow and steady wins the race” approach has served him well enough that the candidates are, in some polls, neck and neck. READ MORE

Early this year, President Barack Obama selected Telemundo Denver for a one-on-one interview. In September, he selected Univision Colorado. During the summer, the president gave Denver’s KBNO a 15-minute live interview.

The last time I counted, Mitt Romney's campaign had at least 15 Spanish-language videos on its YouTube page, and had commissioned Craig Romney as surrogate bilingual speaker for his father to the Hispanic community and Spanish-language media outlets.

Late in September, both presidential candidates participated in a televised forum with Univision, on different days. The forums were watched by 5.5 million viewers.

What do the presidential campaigns tell businesses about the importance of the Latino community? A lot. The campaigns are making a conscious effort and significant investments to include Hispanics in their outreach and marketing tactics — and you can bet they wouldn’t be doing it if they didn’t see the value. READ MORE

Hispanic Professionals of Greater Milwaukee (HPGM), an organization committed to supporting Hispanic professionals, named Ms. Griselda Aldrete, the new Executive Director of HPGM.

Aldrete joins HPGM with a strong background in nonprofit administration, events and sponsorship, and developmental programs. Her background includes work in the private and public sectors. Most recently, she served as the Program Manager for HPGM. Prior to joining HPGM, she served as interim Executive Director for the Cream City Foundation, an organization where Aldrete also serves on the board of directors.

Aldrete was also the Director of Corporate Events for UMOS, a Criminal Justice instructor with Bryant and Stratton College and an investigative reporter with íAquí! Milwaukee. She received her B.A. from Marquette University in Criminology, Law Studies and Spanish, her M.A. in Criminal Justice from University of Nebraska-Omaha and is currently working on her J.D. and M.B.A. from Marquette University.

About HPGM
HPGM is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to create a dynamic environment for Hispanic professionals to thrive by fostering leadership, mentoring, education, networking and new initiatives that support Hispanics. Visit www.hpgm.org for more information.

Unemployment for Latinos remains stubbornly high, but Hispanics are expressing confidence in the economy by dropping more money -- on beer.

Beer sales tanked after the 2008 economic crisis. The industry is still in a rut, growing just 2 percent last year, after shrinking the year before.

But brewers have seen sales of imported beers in the United States spike by 6.5 percent this year, according to The Financial Times. Latinos drink more imported beer than any other group, according to marketing research firm Mintel. So, the surge in imported beer sales has some industry insiders thinking Latinos are beginning to rebound economically. Latino, black and Asian consumers buy over half of the beer imported to the country, The Financial Times reports.

That trend isn’t lost on U.S. beer giants like Anheiser Busch, which bought up Mexico’s Grupo Modelo -- producer of Corona and other popular brands -- this summer for $20.1 billion.

As of last year, Bud Light remained the number one beer in the Latino market, followed by Corona, according to NPR.

The bump in Latino spending isn’t limited to beer, The Financial Times reports. Hispanics spend more at the grocery store than other ethnic groups, and food companies like Kraft, General Mills and PepsiCo are taking notice. READ MORE

Here's a mystery.

According to the 2010 Census, of the 308.7 million people in the United States, 16% are of Hispanic or Latino origin. Hispanics accounted for 29% of the population in the West.

Hispanic spending power was estimated at $1.2 trillion last year by HispanTelligence, and by the end of this year, Hispanic spending power is expected to be more than 15% of total spending for the entire U.S. -- not including undocumented immigrants, according to the International Franchise Association.

Yet as of 2007 just 5.2% of all U.S. franchises were owned by Hispanic franchisees, the IFA said in December, citing the U.S. Census. Today that could be up to 10%, says Jose Torres, principal partner and founder of BuscaTuFranquicia.com and its English counterpart, Franchise4Hispanics.com, virtual marketplaces that connect Hispanic franchisees and franchisors.

"The interest from the franchisee side has moved up significantly," says Torres, the author of the IFA article. There is "much more interest, much more requests for information, much more calls from those who want to find about more about their franchise opportunities."

More Hispanic-run franchises means more access to the Hispanic community. With so much money at stake and so much interest, why aren't there more Hispanic franchisees?

"Despite all these great demographics, there is still a tremendous lack of awareness and commitment to go after this market [from a consumer level], and that influences franchisees," Torres says. "When a franchisee sees that an industry is not really going after them -- Hispanics work on trust a lot -- that really makes an impact with the group. Aspiring franchisees respond much stronger and better to those franchisors that they feel are Hispanic friendly." READ MORE

When an executive producer for Sofia the First: Once Upon a Princess said that Sofia is Disney’s first Latina princess, he was, unbeknownst to him, setting in motion a multi-layered discussion on Latina identity, what constitutes “Latina looks” and a crush of celebration and criticism.

As the story took on a life of its own, Disney felt they had to come out with a statement clarifying what their make-believe princess is — and isn’t. The end result is that Sofia is not actually Latina.

RELATED: Disney’s first Latina princess: Mom bloggers respond

“What’s important to know is that Sofia is a fairytale girl who lives in a fairytale world,” Nancy Kanter, senior vice president of original programming and general manager of Disney Junior Worldwide said in a post on the Princess Sofia Facebook page. “All our characters come from fantasy lands that may reflect elements of various cultures and ethnicities but none are meant to specifically represent those real world cultures.”

Kanter said that most importantly, Sofia’s world reflects the ethnically diverse world we live in “but it is not OUR world, it is a fairytale and storybook world that we hope will help spur a child’s imagination.”

Craig Gerber, co-executive producer/writer on the project says, “Princess Sofia is a mixed-heritage princess in a fairy-tale world. Her mother is originally from an enchanted kingdom inspired by Spain (Galdiz) and her birth father hailed from an enchanted kingdom inspired by Scandinavia.” READ MORE

Latinos in higher education; we’re finally making it happen. The image that comes to mind is of Edward James Olmos in Stand and Deliver, grinning from ear to ear, fist-pumping with one arm in the air. According to the Pew Hispanic Center, Latinos are now, for the first time, the largest minority group among the nation’s four-year college and university students. And for the first time, Hispanics also made up one-quarter (25.2%) of all 18 to 24-year-old students enrolled in two-year colleges.

Certainly, that’s something worth celebrating. I guess it means our kids are paying attention—that the generations coming up behind us, those benefiting from my generation and many more before us, are gaining better access to more and better opportunities as a people. That’s the American way! And it was our parents’ and grandparents’ plan from the beginning; was it not?

What it does not mean is that higher education among Latinos is no longer an issue. It still is, and will likely continue to be one for generations to come. READ MORE

As our country celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month, it’s not difficult to find areas where this nation continues to benefit from the significant contributions of the Hispanic immigrants who’ve come to our shores.

Just last week, Americans witnessed Venezuelan-born Miguel Cabrera capture baseball’s Triple Crown, becoming only the 15th Major League Baseball player to ever do so. A few days later, President Obama dedicated the Cesar E. Chavez National Memorial, honoring the Mexican-American labor leader and civil rights activist with a monument that joined the likes of the Statue of Liberty and the Grand Canyon.

These are just two shining examples that illustrate the extent to which Hispanic immigrants have enriched everything from our national pastime to our national history. But too often we overlook the critical role they’ve played in advancing an area that’s particularly vital to our country’s well-being: our economy.

Away from the spotlight of major league sports and presidential dedication ceremonies, the Hispanic immigrant business community has been quietly but substantially aiding U.S. economic growth and job creation.

Over the past 15 years, American entrepreneurship has declined by 10 percent, according to a recent study from the Partnership for a New American Economy. But immigrants have become more than 50 percent more likely to start a business over this period, with Hispanic immigrants leading the way. Every month, immigrants from Mexico, Guatemala and Cuba alone launch more than 63,000 new U.S. businesses. Immigrants from Mexico now own more than 500,000 businesses here in America, generating nearly $17 billion in income annually. READ MORE

America’s Latinos are among the most active users of mobile communications among all demographic groups in the United States, according to the report, "Hispanic Broadband Access: Making the Most of the Mobile, Connected Future" [PDF]. In fact, the report by the Hispanic Institute and Mobile Future revealed that 50.5 million Hispanics living in the U.S. today are increasingly turning primarily to mobile broadband, rather than using wired connections as their main avenue to the Internet.

As president of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Minnesota, I am pleased that technology has become a powerful tool to empower the economic, educational, and civic advancement of Latinos.

Hispanics tend to be more geographically mobile than the overall U.S. population, and they rely more heavily on wireless services generally. Today, 90 percent of Hispanics ages 18-29 own cell phones; 70 percent have laptops, more than 51 percent have smartphones, and almost 20 percent have tablets.

Wireless networks are strained

This high rate of technology use by Hispanics is leading to high rates of mobile usage for promoting education, health care, access to financial services and civic engagement. With nearly two thirds of Latinos using wireless devices to access the Internet, mobile broadband is also vital for Hispanics to participate in public policy and civic engagement.

Today, there are more wireless subscribers than people in the United States, and the expanding use of mobile technology is straining wireless networks, and the spectrum they rely on. What does this mean for wireless users? Timed out apps, dropped calls and more quality time with the loading bar on our devices. And the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) anticipates that mobile spectrum demand could surpass supply as early as 2013. READ MORE

"Teresa Rey is one of the millions of mothers across the nation who carefully watched the first presidential debate of 2012. It is fair to say that Rey felt frustrated with the moderator’s lack of questions around family economic-security issues.

Questions about unfair wages for mothers, the high price of childcare and the lack of paid leave to care for children and the elderly were left off the table. The moderator also failed to ask the candidates about the contributions of immigrant families to the overall economy of our country. For Rey, who lives in Tampa, paying close attention to the candidates’ position on issues such as these is vital to ensuring that our communities thrive.

“Making a living wage is a big deal for us,” said Rey. “I was out of work. That’s rough. Even now, what I am making is a lot less than what I was making before, and I don’t have work benefits like healthcare. I also don’t have paid sick days, so if I or my daughters get sick, that’s a problem.”

Rey will be among an estimated 12 million Latinas and Latinos expected to cast ballots this year, up from 10 million in 2008, according to the National Association of Latino Elected Officials. Moreover, the size of the Latino constituency specifically in states expected to be very competitive in 2012 — such as Florida, Arizona, Colorado, Nevada and Virginia — means that the Latino vote is critical to choosing our next president.

The Latina mom voter is especially a force to be contended with. According to the polling firm Latino Decisions, Latinas, like women overall, have voted at higher rates than their male counterparts for the past three decades, and this pattern is expected to play out again in 2012. READ MORE