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Latino college students are more likely to be first-generation students and less likely to leave college having earned their degrees, according to a new report from Excelencia in Education. Of the Latino students in U.S. colleges and universities, those of Mexican or Chicano descent constitute almost half (49%) of the population. Meanwhile, students of other Hispanic backgrounds made up 27%; those of Puerto Rican descent made up 12%, and those of Cuban descent 2%. READ MORE AT DIVERSE EDUCATION

Latino-owned businesses are a dynamic and growing portion of the U.S.; with more than 5 million firms driving $800 billion in revenue, they represent a huge opportunity for the U.S. In fact, the number of Latino-owned businesses is growing 10x faster than white-owned businesses. READ MORE AT LATINO BUSINESS ACTION NETWORK

Half of Hispanic adults (50%) reported being very worried about having enough money for retirement, six percentage points higher than the response from the general population, according to LIMRA’s 2023 Insurance Barometer Study, but the owner of a Hispanic-run financial wellness platform says focused engagement with the Latino audience can help.

Approaching 70 million people, or nearly 20% of the U.S. population, Latinos present a significant opportunity for every sector, according to Finhabits’ 2023 “Power in Numbers” report. Yet efforts to capitalize on the wealth potential of this segment, which by the firm’s estimates will grow to $113 trillion by 2050, have so far fallen short. READ MORE AT PLAN ADVISER

The recently released 2023 Hispanic Wealth Report showed that more Latinos are making money, owning homes, and building generational wealth for their families. According to the report, 49.5% of the Hispanic population in the United States are now homeowners. That's on track to have 70% of all Latinos be homeowners by 2040. READ MORE AT WFTS TAMPA BAY

For Hispanic-Latinos, the drive to become financially successful isn’t just about accumulating wealth — rather, it’s driven by a strong feeling of responsibility to support our families and the Hispanic-Latino community. In A Merrill survey. 

Affluent Hispanic-Latinos in the Merrill survey were also four times more likely than the affluent general population to say that planning to assist aging parents financially is their most important financial goal. READ MORE AT ML.COM

Latino enrollment in higher education institutions has been growing with the Hispanic population, and Latinos have made substantial strides in earning college degrees. But the elimination of DEI programs is occurring as Latinos' degree-earning is still failing to keep pace with that of white students. READ MORE AT NBC NEWS

US Latinos account for 24 percent of box office ticket sales and 24 percent of streaming subscribers.3 To put this into even sharper contrast, US Latinos see films 3.3 times a year, per capita, compared with 2.9 for Asian-Americans and 2.3 for White Americans.

Yet Latinos hold less than 5 percent of leading on-screen, off-screen, and executive leadership roles in US media. Half of large media companies’ boardrooms include no Latino representation, and overall there is limited progress toward parity. As a result, the many facets of the Latino identity, from the United States and around the world, continue to be unseen or misrepresented on screens. READ MORE AT MCKINSEY & CO

From Women's History Month to global International Women's Day celebrations, March is a time to champion the power of women's voices and drive positive change. As you make your plans to celebrate International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month, here are four ways to access inspiring content from the past and even find new voices. READ MORE AT GOOGLE VOICES

Hispanic Americans currently make up nearly one-fifth of the American population, according to 2022 Census data, and they are the largest racial or ethnic minority group in the country. They have also become a powerful force in the economy, having contributed an estimated $3.2 trillion of economic output in 2021, according to a report last month by the Latino Donor Collaborative — which would give them the fifth-largest GDP in the world if they were grouped as an individual nation. READ MORE AT FINANCIAL PLANNING

In October 2023, the U.S. Department of the Treasury reported that roughly 5 million Latinx-owned businesses operated nationwide. These companies generate over $800 billion in annual revenue with an economic output of $2.8 trillion. 

That report also revealed that this share is growing. In 2021, almost 25 percent of the entrepreneurs behind new business applications were Latinx. And between 2019 and 2023, the share of self-employed Latinx workers across the country grew by 26 percent. READ MORE AT BANKRATE

few years back, my siblings and I began what would turn out to be a long, somewhat arduous conversation: What’s going to happen with Mom? Our mom was getting older, and we needed to start thinking about what her golden years would look like, considering the possibilities that could come with caring for an elderly parent. The entire exercise, thus far, has led to arguments and a sense of straying further from the light. READ MORE AT THE LOS ANGELES TIMES

At the beginning of the CTA’s Red and Purple Modernization (RPM) Phase One project, the transit agency set robust hiring and workforce goals to ensure that this transformational project – the largest capital investment project in CTA history – didn’t further contribute to the low numbers of Black individuals seeking and thriving in careers in construction. 

CTA has dedicated a team – CTA Diversity Programs – that works with various organizations to provide opportunities to small and diverse businesses. Since the beginning of the RPM project back in 2019, the CTA Diversity Programs team worked with RPM contractor Walsh-Fluor Design-Build Team to develop Small Business Enterprise (SBE) and Diverse Business Enterprise (DBE) goals specifically for contractors working on RPM Phase One, as well as robust workforce goals to ensure that Chicago’s communities benefit from this historic investment. To date, DBE goals are being met, exceeding the percentage goal of 20% and $314M awarded in DBE contracts. Furthermore, the 19.6% minority workforce goal has been dramatically exceeded with 52.7% of the hired workforce identifying as a minority and $47.4M paid in wages among those laborers. 

• Adrian Mobley, an Englewood native, is the owner of Air & Wellness Safety Training, an MBE-, WBE- and DBE-certified health and safety consulting firm based on Chicago’s South Side. Through RPM’s diversity efforts, Adrian received financial guidance and resources, leading her to bid on and be awarded flagging services on the project. Since her contract began, she has hired more than 25 full-time employees and is growing the business to one day pass down to her daughters, who also work on the RPM project. 
• Pierre Starks, a Chicago native, is a Local 1 Union iron worker who went from apprentice to journeyman while working on RPM. Since working on the project, Pierre has been able to save money to buy a home for his family that has a backyard for his two sons.

To learn more about CTA’s diversity efforts, please visit transitchicago.com/diversity-programs.

U.S. Latinos are key when it comes the nation’s engineering and technology workforce, according to a new joint report from the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) and the Latino Donor Collaborative (LDC). According to the report, the economic contributions the Latino community makes to the U.S. are immense. The contributions are significant enough that if the national Latino population were its own country, it would have the fifth-largest GDP in the world, $3.2 trillion, despite comprising only 19.1% of the U.S. population. READ MORE AT DIVERSE EDUCATION

Hispanic American financial institutions were created to provide services to low-income and minority communities, particularly Hispanic American communities. Historically, Hispanic Americans have been affected by discriminatory lending practices like redlining and experienced limited economic opportunities to build wealth.

Hispanic American banks were founded in areas where minority communities lived. These financial institutions were able to connect with their local communities and fill the banking gap by addressing areas like language and culture. READ MORE AT PERSONAL FINANCE

Millions of patients are not getting the quality care they deserve from doctors who look like them and speak their language. Research has shown that newly trained physicians of color answer the call to return to their communities and provide culturally competent care that results in improved patient outcomes.

At the same time, the Latino community needs increased representation for Latino physicians in leadership positions on college campuses and in hospitals. We must act and hold educational and health care organizations accountable for the sake of our patients. READ MORE AT CAL MATTERS

The road to higher educational attainment runs through every Hispanic household in America. With a population of 63.7 million, Hispanics are the country’s largest minority group, and today one in every five students in higher ed is Hispanic. The Lumina Foundation-Gallup study conducted last year found that about one in four Hispanic students say they frequently or occasionally experienced discrimination, harassment, and disrespect and felt unsafe as they pursued their educations. READ MORE AT FORBES

Financial services and the tools they provide can be invaluable for economic mobility and wealth building, but many of the benefits have been hard to reach for Latinos, many of whom live with unmet needs. While they represent about 20 percent of the US population and are a growing economic bloc, Latinos have not had access to many of the benefits of financial services. READ MORE AT MCKINSEY & COMPANY

The total economic output of U.S. Latinos reached $3.2 trillion in 2021, inching closer to Germany's and staying ahead of India. A report shows U.S. Latino buying power and economic output grew by more than 14% despite the pandemic's disproportionate impact on Latino communities.

While the report focused on the overall strength of the U.S. Latino economy, it did not address the massive economic inequalities still facing Hispanics nationwide. READ MORE AT AXIOS

Florida is a melting pot of cultures and for many it is an opportunity to seek a better life. It is no secret that the Hispanic and Latino community’s contributions to the U.S. economy have been nothing short of impactful. In fact, a 2022 study found that U.S. Latino economic output would rank 5th in the world's gross domestic product if U.S. Latinos were an independent country. READ MORE AT NBC 6 SOUTH FLORIDA

The Hispanic community is taking the U.S. economy by storm. Projections suggest that Latinos will hold $2.6 trillion in purchasing power over the next three years, a growth that outpaces that of non-Hispanic households. Despite these promising statistics, Latino individuals are still behind financially, for a variety of reasons. READ MORE AT MORNINGSTAR