The Emmys used Latinx actress America Ferrera as a prop. The Television Academy largely ignored Latinx talent in its 2020 nominations— particularly performances by Latinx women. If the TV Academy is going to continue to ignore many marginalized groups, it can’t have its self-congratulatory diversity cake and eat it, too. READ MORE AT REFINERY 29

Google.org announced a $3M grant to Hispanics in Philanthropy’s PowerUp Fund, in partnership with Ureeka, to directly support hundreds of Latino-owned small businesses across California, New York, and Texas—states with large numbers of Latino-owned small businesses—with access to capital and the training they need to successfully leverage that capital to overcome the economic downturn and continue to grow.

Latinos are 1.5 times more likely than the general population to start a business, yet as COVID-19 continues to disrupt the US economy, the impact on the Latino small business community is glaring. A recent study from the National Bureau of Economic Research found that 32% of Latino-owned businesses have been forced to close in recent months, and even more Latino-owned small businesses remain disproportionately at risk, given their overrepresentation in sectors hardest hit by the economic downturn. READ MORE AT GLOBALNEWSWIRE

Over the last decade, the number of Latino business owners has grown by 34%, compared to 1% for all business owners in the United States, according to a report from the Stanford Latino Entrepreneurship Initiative, a research and education collaboration between Stanford University and the Latino Business Action Network.

Now, those same businesses — along with those owned by African Americans — are struggling to survive the coronavirus pandemic and face particularly great challenges. READ MORE AT THE WORLD.COM

The terms Latino, Hispanic and Latinx are often used interchangeably to describe a group that makes up about 18 percent of the U.S. population. While it’s now common to use umbrella terms to categorize those with ties to more than 20 Latin American countries, these words haven’t always fostered a sense of community among the people they’re supposed to describe. READ MORE AT HISTORY.COM

Many Central American countries declared their independence Sept. 15, with Mexico and Chile celebrating their independence days on Sept. 16 and Sept. 18, respectively. Hispanic Heritage Month recognizes all of those independence days as they paved the way for the United States to interact with the individual nations in a new way. READ MORE AT CLICK ORLANDO.COM

National Hispanic Heritage Month has officially begun, and to celebrate, we rounded up some of the most popular books that were released this year by Latinx authors, according to Goodreads.

These books feature captivating story-telling, beautiful imagery, and engaging characters. Whether you're looking for you next book club pick or a compelling read to enjoy while staying at home, these titles are sure to fit the bill. READ MORE AT TODAY.COM

The coronavirus pandemic has eliminated tens of millions of jobs. If you are now looking for work — or are simply considering a new direction — 15 careers are especially in-demand now.

he top 15 career fields — ranked by average national salary, are: READ MORE AT MSN MONEY

The pandemic has hit the US economy and job market hard, battering some industries beyond recognition. That's inspired many job seekers to change careers altogether, according to a new study.

About 61% of US job seekers surveyed -- which includes people who are looking for new roles and people who are unemployed -- have looked for a job in a new industry because of the pandemic. READ MORE AT CNN BUSINESS

According to a Telemundo-BuzzFeed News poll, 60% of Latino voters would cast their ballot for Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, while 19% would vote to reelect President Donald Trump.

But as 2016 showed us, you can’t rely on polls alone. READ MORE AT WTTW

Martin King, CEO of PMI America

Please tell us about the kind of family and neighborhood in which you grew up.

I come from a family of six, including two brothers and my sister, and spent the first 15 years of my life in South America. I grew up in Bogota, Colombia, before moving to Cartagena, Colombia—where I have fond memories of sailing out to the different islands back before they became popular destinations for tourists.

I also lived in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Caracas, Venezuela, where, because my mother was an ornithologist, we camped in every corner of the country, like the Gran Sabana and the Llanos.

I enjoyed working to understand, integrating and absorbing the culture and making great friendships during my time there. To this day, I still look for any and every chance to have an arepa.

Were there any core news stories, you remember, that had an impact on who you are today?

Growing up, I followed everything space-related, especially the Challenger space shuttle which made triumphant strides not only in space exploration and technology, but also by carrying the first black astronauts and female American astronaut into space.

Witnessing how we moved past the adversity from the tragic Challenger explosion, continuing innovation that allowed for dozens of missions, the International Space Station and more taught me a great lesson: setbacks and defeats, no matter their extent, do not end the mission.

Please share how it is that you are fluent in Spanish?

Growing up in South America, I learned Spanish the same time I was learning English. Actually, my parents were worried that I wasn’t learning either but rather a mix of both. I also had the help of conversing with friends and schooling and studied Spanish literature—Jorge Luis Borges is still one of my favorites.

Please tell us about PMI’s smoke-free tobacco platform IQOS.

A few words about Philip Morris International (PMI) first. PMI is leading a transformation in the tobacco industry to create a smoke-free future and ultimately replace cigarettes with smoke-free products to the benefit of adults who would otherwise continue to smoke, society, the company and its shareholders. PMI is engaged in the manufacture and sale of cigarettes, as well as smoke-free products and associated electronic devices and accessories, and other nicotine-containing products in markets outside the United States.

By smoke-free products we mean nicotine-containing alternatives to combustible cigarettes, some of which do not burn tobacco and others that do not contain tobacco at all. When a cigarette is lit, it burns tobacco at temperatures in excess of 1,112°F and the smoke it produces contains an array of harmful chemicals. By eliminating the burning—as is the case with smoke-free products—the levels of harmful chemicals generated can be significantly reduced compared with cigarette smoke. Of course, this should be substantiated on a product-by-product basis.

It is clear, and we are clear, that no tobacco-or nicotine- containing product is risk-free. The best choice adults who smoke can make is quit using tobacco and nicotine altogether, but the reality is that most will continue to smoke. It is estimated that there are over a billion smokers today—including approximately 34 million men and women in the U.S, according to the CDC. —and the World Health Organization estimates there will still be over a billion smokers in 2025. Adult smokers who would otherwise continue smoking deserve a science-based approach to regulating alternatives that can help them switch completely from cigarettes.

Our aspirational target is that by 2025, at least 40 million adults will have stopped smoking and switched to our smoke-free products. And, we are convinced that it is possible to completely end cigarette sales in many countries within 10 to 15 years. We are confident that the right mix of government leadership and commercial initiative will dramatically accelerate efforts to reduce the health burden of smoking.

We are rapidly shifting our resources to achieve this bold ambition as soon as possible. Almost all our R&D is dedicated to smoke-free products, and most of our commercial investments are already geared toward them. This includes $7.2 billion invested in the research and development of our smoke-free products.

Since we launched our smoke-free products in 2015, we have made very rapid progress: As of June 30, 2020, we estimate that approximately 11.2 million adult smokers around the world have already stopped smoking and switched to our tobacco heating system, IQOS. As of Q2 2020, smoke-free products accounted for almost a quarter of our net revenues.

Unlike cigarettes, the tobacco heating system heats—but does not burn—tobacco and is a fundamentally different tobacco product and a better choice for adults who would otherwise continue smoking.

The product is designed to heat a tobacco plug to a temperature beneath the point at which burning occurs.

IQOS was launched in the U.S. in October 2019, and is commercialized by Altria Group, Inc under an exclusive licensing agreement.

Can you speak of the health benefit/impact, for the transitioning tobacco smoker, of IQOS?

In December 2016, PMI submitted applications seeking authorization from the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) to market a version of the IQOS system in the United States as a modified risk tobacco product (MRTP). On July 7, 2020, the FDA authorized its marketing as an MRTP. In doing so, the agency found that issuing an IQOS exposure modification order is appropriate to promote the public health. Specifically, the FDA authorized its marketing with reduced exposure information.

• The IQOS system heats tobacco but does not burn it.
• This significantly reduces the production of harmful and potentially harmful chemicals.
• Scientific studies have shown that switching completely from conventional cigarettes to the IQOS system significantly reduces your body’s exposure to harmful or potentially harmful chemicals.

The agency also concluded that the available scientific evidence demonstrates that it is expected to benefit the health of the population as a whole, taking into account both users of tobacco products and persons who do not currently use tobacco products. The decision further builds on the emerging independent international scientific consensus that IQOS is a better choice than continuing to smoke, and follows the FDA’s April 2019 decision authorizing its commercialization in the U.S.

Notably, FDA authorization does not mean that IQOS is “safe” or “risk-free” and “authorization” does not imply FDA approval or endorsement as the agency does not “approve” tobacco products

Which are the policies related to nicotine that affect the LatinX communities being considered in Illinois?

Illinois currently has four bills introduced that would ban the sale of flavored tobacco products—each without an exemption for smoke-free alternatives authorized under FDA’s premarket tobacco products application pathway, through which the agency must find products to be appropriate for the protection of public health in order to authorize their sale.

PMI believes the best way any government, anywhere can answer questions related to smoke-free products—ranging from harm reduction potential to youth use—is for manufacturers to share their evidence with regulators and for governments to make science-based decisions. Ultimately, it is important that any regulation encourages those who would otherwise continue smoking to switch to science-based smoke-free alternatives, while avoiding unintended consequences, such as adoption by youth and nonsmokers.

The FDA has powerful tools to minimize unintended consequences via its pre-market tobacco product application and modified risk tobacco product authorization pathways. As demonstrated through FDA’s recent decision concerning IQOS, authorization via either of these pathways comes with stringent post-market surveillance and monitoring requirements, the results of which must be regularly reported to the agency.

As consideration is given on how to regulate innovative alternatives to smoking, it is imperative to focus not just on unintended consequences, but also on the intended audience of these products: the approximately 34 million American men and women who smoke today. They have a right to choose alternatives authorized through an FDA regulatory pathway.

As the General Assembly considers how best to regulate alternatives to cigarettes in Illinois, it is important to remember that 15.5 percent of adults in Illinois smoke cigarettes. The best thing adults who currently smoke can do to protect their health is to stop using tobacco and nicotine altogether. Those who do not quit deserve better choices—an opportunity to switch away from cigarettes, the most dangerous form of tobacco use.

Do you have any pictures for publication of IQOS?

As the thrust of this piece is a profile on Martin and PMI’s smoke-free vision, attached please find a headshot of Martin and our research and development facility, known as ‘The Cube,” in Neuchatel, Switzerland.

In addition, light of existing federal and state regulations governing tobacco products we do not generally provide product images to media. For more information about our smoke-free vision, please visit www.pmi.com.

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Amazon wants the whole country to know it’s hiring.

The e-commerce juggernaut is hosting a virtual career day next week with the goal of filling 33,000 corporate and tech jobs nationwide.

Registration for Amazon Career Day is free and available on the company’s website, CLICK HERE. 

READ MORE AT NEW YORK POST

Mingling is harder in a socially-distanced world, but if you're adaptable you can still make connections.

As a result, the coronavirus pandemic has put an end to many of the usual methods many of us rely on to develop our network.

The good news is that networking is still perfectly possible in a socially-distanced world. We just need to be flexible in how we approach it. READ MORE AT MANAGEMENT TODAY

Read biographies of featured guests for "Defining Latinx" Webinar to be held tomorrow at 3pm CST.

Dr. Sylvia Martinez, Associate Professor, Indiana University, Co-Author "Understanding the Latinx Experience: Developmental and Contextual Influences"

Sylvia Martinez is an Associate Professor at Indiana University, jointly appointed in the department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, and the Latino Studies Program. Broadly, her research focuses on the K-16 Latinx educational pipeline and Latinx ethnic identity development.

She is the co-author of the recently published book, Understanding the Latinx Experience: Developmental and Contextual Experiences (2019, Stylus Publishing).

Jorge Valdivia, Art Consultant & Curator

Jorge Valdivia is a Chicago native who grew up in La Villita, a Mexican-American enclave on the city’s Southwest Side. Valdivia is an arts consultant with a special focus on curating performing arts festivals and events. His work has led him to work with organizations like the National Museum of Mexican Art. There he serves as the performing arts consultant where he is the lead curator of the Sor Juana Festival, celebrating the artistic accomplishments of Mexican women. This is the only festival in the country with such a unique scope and focus. His work has earned the National Museum of Mexican Art a reputation as a leading presenter of Mexican/Latinx performing artists.

Valdivia is also a consultant and co-curator of the Chicago Latino Theater Alliance (CLATA). There he co-curates their work with Mexican theater. He also developed their social ambassadors program and helped increase visibility of Destinos Fest between 300 - 1500%. By supporting the entire CLATA team, Valdivia has helped make Destinos Fest one of most reputable Latinx theater festivals in the country.

Prior to his work as a consultant, Valdivia served as General Manager of Radio Arte•WRTE 90.5FM and as Director of Performing Arts for the National Museum of Mexican Art.

In 2002, Valdivia founded Homofrecuencia, the country’s first Spanish-language radio program to focus on LGBT issues. Two years later, Valdivia and the producers of Homofrecuencia continued to break new ground by organizing and sponsoring the first prom for queer prom in Chicago, creating a critical safe space for young people who have been routinely ostracized from “traditional” high school dances.

Today, Queer Prom has become an annual event at the National Museum of Mexican Art serving between 200-350 young people every year. Valdivia’s leadership and dedication to the launch of these initiatives have empowered a new generation of LGBTQ youth to define their own identities and to position themselves at the forefront of the LGBTQ rights movement.

In 2009, Valdivia was honored by the Mayor’s Commission on Human Relations and inducted into Chicago’s Gay & Lesbian Hall of Fame for his work with Latinx LGBTQ youth and bring visibility to the Latino LGBTQ community through media and arts.

Since 2013, Valdivia has served as Ambassador of the Chicago Community Trust’s On The Table campaign helping bring visibility to the annual forum designed to elevate civic conversation, foster new relationships and create a unifying experience across the region.

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Your professional worth is not tied to your job title, whether you’re earning a paycheck or if you’re currently employed. Period.

For far too long, we’ve felt embarrassed of being unemployed, or experiencing a layoff, or even asking for help in a job search. Now is the time for that to end. READ MORE AT FORBES

Are you currently job searching? Whether you are looking for a new job or a side gig due to the current economic situation or making a career change to find a better fit, job searching can be difficult and frustrating. Career coaching clients are often overwhelmed with all of the information – and sometimes contradictory advice – that's found online. READ MORE AT U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT

As one of the groups to feel the disproportionate effects of job loss and health impacts during the COVID-19 pandemic, Latinos have come to rely on media and social channels more than ever to educate, inform, and entertain.

Latinos continue to be key factors in stimulating the country’s economy with their immense buying power, which increased by 69% in just nine years, outpacing non-Hispanics, which increased by 41% during the same time. READ MORE AT WHNT19 NEWS

With most things in life, organization is key. This is especially true when it comes to a job search. Try these for yourself and take some stress out of job hunting. 

Put your best foot forward by staying organized in your job search. The journey to success starts long before your first day on the job. READ MORE AT VERIZON

According to a new study by a leading political research group, about one in three Latino business owners have taken an economic hit from the pandemic. Coronavirus-related job losses have affected at least 29% of Latino families.

While Americans overall are struggling in the COVID economy, Latinos are generally more economically vulnerable than the general population. READ MORE AT THE MIAMI HERALD

The coronavirus pandemic has canceled countless conferences and trade shows and put the kibosh on traditional in-person networking events. Still, that doesn’t mean you can’t successfully grow and leverage your network. Use these tips to network virtually with success. READ MORE AT ADVERTISING SPECIALTY INSTITUTE

Business schools aren’t successfully attracting Latino college students after they’ve started college. That’s according to recent findings from the Interfaith Diversity Experiences and Attitudes Longitudinal Survey, or IDEALS.

The survey found that of the roughly 50% of Latino students who changed their major during college, none changed their major to business. Furthermore, of the 85 Latino students who entered college undecided about their major, only one went on to major in business. READ MORE AT SI NEWS