In California, climate change is a personal issue. We seem to be experiencing its earliest effects much more dramatically than the rest of the country.

But Latinos are truly on the front lines. Construction, farming and manufacturing all draw heavily on Latino workers, and they are at greater risk when they must work in extreme weather conditions. Many of these workers develop health issues.

In the context of changing climate, this pronounced inequality in health care has wrought terrible consequences on Latino families. Hispanic children suffer from asthma at similar rates as non-Hispanics, but they are 70% more likely to be admitted to the hospital and twice as likely to die from asthma. READ MORE AT SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE

Miguel Hernandez spoke neither Spanish nor English when he arrived in California from a small Mexican mountain village four years ago.

Like many indigenous residents of remote towns in the state of Oaxaca, Hernandez grew up speaking a Zapotecan dialect rather than Spanish. That meant he had to overcome even more obstacles than other Mexican immigrants, unable to communicate with most of his classmates and teachers at North Hollywood High School.

“I wanted to cry,” said Hernandez, 18. But he learned Spanish and then English, staying after school for tutoring and moving on to honors and Advanced Placement classes.

Now he is about to become the first person in his family to go to college. READ MORE AT THE HECHINGER REPORT

Read biographies of discussion panelists for the 2019 STEM Networking Forum being held Thursday, August 08 at the rooftop lounge of the Lakeshore Sports & Fitness Club Millennium Park. 

Carmen Valverde-Paniagua, Technology Consultant Manager, Accenture

Carmen is a Technology Consultant in Accenture’s Technology Advisory group. As a part of the Technology Advisory group she works with her team in developing and executing technology strategies as well as determining the right combination of technologies for our clients—from tech that exists today to the emerging tech of tomorrow. In particular Carmen has experience and expertise in New IT solutions like Cloud, Multi-speed (Agile), and Internet of Things (IoT). Within the IoT space Carmen has worked on connected medical as well as connected vehicle solutions using distributed and scale agile models.

Additionally, Carmen is the Market Pillar Lead & Metrics and the Compliance Co-Lead for Accenture's Chicago Hispanic American ERG. She works with current client, potential clients, and local inclusion and diversity organizations in order to better service our clients and create ties within our Hispanic/Latino community. Carmen also serves on the National Hispanic American ERG team as co-lead for Midwest recruiting and works to promote Accenture programs, job opportunities, and identify Hispanic/Latino talent.

Peter D. Rios, Ph.D, Associate Scientific Director, CellTrans, President – SHPE Chicago Chapter

Dr. Peter Rios completed his PhD in Biomedical Engineering at Northwestern University. His dissertation focused on encapsulation technologies for type 1 diabetes and fertility preservation. Currently, he is the Associate Scientific Director of CellTrans, Inc., a biotech start-up seeking to develop a functional cure for diabetes. At CellTrans, he is responsible for planning, coordinating, and managing the activities of bioengineering projects in the Research Department, which involve rodent and monkey models. He undertakes short-term and long-term planning and supervision of preclinical and clinical-focused projects aimed towards a sustainable treatments for diabetes.

Prior to his graduate studies, Dr. Rios earned his Bachelor’s of Science in Biomedical Engineering (BME) from the University of Virginia (UVA) in 2009. Upon graduation from UVA, Peter began working for Booz Allen Hamilton as a Consultant for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in Washington, DC. At DHS, he provided programmatic support for the Bioterrorism Risk Assessment (BTRA), a resource used by government agencies to prioritize their budgets for terrorism countermeasures.

He is an active Lifetime Member who has been involved in Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) for over 10 years. He has served on their Board of Directors and is the current SHPE Chicago Professional Chapter President.

Lori Dawson, Senior Director of Services Engineering, U.S. Cellular

Lori Dawson has been with U.S. Cellular for 16 years. Her responsibilities include leading a team of engineers and leaders who design and deploy new wireless functionality into U.S. Cellular’s national network. Lori holds her bachelor’s degree from University of Iowa and her Master’s in Leadership from Bellevue University.

Jesse “Chuy” Chavez, Senior Software Engineer & Manager, Google

Jessie ‘Chuy’ Chavez is a Software Engineer on the Data Liberation team in Chicago which systematically provides users control of their data in Google products, and he recently celebrated 10 years at Google. Chuy was named to the Crain's 2015 Tech50 list of people to know in Chicago's technology community.

Apart from his main job, Chuy spends his 20% time coordinating education outreach and participating in diversity efforts in the Chicago office such as the Code.org/CS4All initiative in Chicago Public Schools, the Google.org sponsored Robot Revolution, the Chicago Public Library robot and hotspot checkout program, and many other intiaitves with local educational and community partners. He has also spoken to tens of thousands of students to help inspire the next generation to pursue careers in Computer Science.

Chuy is a founding member of the Chicago office’s Mosaic diversity group and local Latino Googler chapter as well as volunteers on initiatives with other employee resource groups.

Born and raised in Chicago to Mexican immigrant parents from Michoacan and Monterrey, Chuy’s first language was Spanish and he attended Chicago Public School's bilingual program until the fourth grade. As the oldest in his family, Chuy became the first in his family to graduate from elementary school, high school, and college. He graduated with a degree in Math from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign as well as coordinated campus initiatives to help Latino/a recruitment, retention, and equality, including the famous 1992 Latina/o student protest.

Prior to Google, Chuy worked as a software engineer at FeedBurner (acquired by Google in 2007) as well as HSBC bank US and Mexico, Best Buy, and even as a teacher in Chicago. Chuy extends his technical expertise to many community and social justice causes in Chicago and Latin America, including serving as a human rights monitor in Honduras and a media volunteer for #Caravana43 from Ayotzinapa, Mexico.

Juan M. Garcia, Senior Program Manager, Groupon

Juan is a passionate leader who empowers technical teams to develop their full potential. Born in Colombia, with a background in Electronics and Telecommunications Engineering, he's performed multiple management roles in the aviation, software, and banking industries in Latin America and currently manages the Global Engineering PMO organization at Groupon Chicago, leading the team that executes the company's strategic initiatives and promotes best practices for technical project management.

Juan is also an advocate of inclusion and diversity at the workplace, he's the co-chair of the "Groupon For Latinos & Allies" Business Resource Group, a team of enthusiastic employees executing the company's DNI strategies, focused on strengthening the presence of Latinx merchants in the platform, increasing Groupon brand's outreach to Latinx customers, and recruiting and retaining Latinx talent.

Amaris Alanis-Ribeiro, Environment STEM Leader, Center Director - North Park Village Nature Center

Amaris Alanis Ribeiro has fifteen years of experience in STEM in museums, nonprofits, and outdoor settings. She has led girl’s online programs, forensics mock scenes in collaboration with the FBI, and has taken teens on nature explorations across the country. She believes that nature is an entryway to STEM and that diversity is key to solving environmental problems.

Amaris is currently the Center Director of the North Park Village Nature Center at the Chicago Park District, the largest municipal park system in the U.S. There she directs the operation of a public facility with 46 acres of a nature preserve open 7-days a week, providing year-round programs and major special events throughout the year for over 50,000 visitors.

Amaris has participated in numerous fellowships including the Association of Science and Technology Centers Diversity and Leadership Fellowship, ee360 Community EE Fellow, and One Sky Institute Research and Practice Collaboratory. Amaris also currently serves on the National Science Teachers Association Informal Science Education Committee and the Advisory Board for Environmentalists of Color. In 2017, Amaris received the Chicago Wilderness Force of Nature Award.

Amaris has a bachelor in science degree in Ecology, Ethology, Evolution from the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign and is completing a master’s degree in Science Education from the Illinois Institute of Technology.

Julio Santiago Haag, Infrastructure Services Manager, Accenture

Santiago Haag is a Manager in Accenture’s Infrastructure Services organization. He manages operations for the Global Digital Workplace portfolio focusing on IoT, Video-collaboration and Broadcast applications. He oversees global support for state-of-the-art collaboration solutions like, Surface Hubs, Cisco Videoconferencing and immersive technologies. In the IoT space, he manages the global digital signage and room signage service for the company.

As a committed leader he wants to make an impact in the community and has been a part of Inclusion and Diversity efforts at Accenture since joining. He led the Chicago Hispanic American Employee Resource Group and is constantly focusing on retention and development of diverse talent at work and in the community.

Santi is originally from the Patagonia region of Argentina, but today he lives in a Chicago suburb with his wife, Bonnie, and his three small children. He believes that trust is the foundation for any effective relationship and focuses on remaining trustworthy with his teams, his customers and his family. Four guidelines drive his work and life: Know who you are, know who you work with, know who you work for, and be happy.

Time is running out to register. The 2019 STEM Networking Forum is tomorrow! 

In an effort to boost their income level Opens a New Window. as well as pursue their passions, research shows millions of Americans are turning to "side hustles." Opens a New Window.

A study of 2,000 full-time employees showed 27 percent of them turned their hobby into a side business, while 55 percent of them said they dreamed of finding a side hustle themselves. READ MORE AT FOX BUSINESS

The Latino community in California has grown tremendously, becoming the state’s largest ethnic group just five years ago. But despite this growth, the state’s Hispanic population isn’t faring as well as their fellow Californians economically.

A report from the California Latino Economic Institute (CLEI) (pdf) sheds light on this subject, showing that despite the growing economy, Latino residents struggle to keep up with Asian Americans and whites. READ MORE AT EPOCH TIMES

Both subtle and significant differences in food habits, cultural mores and lifestyles exist among Cubans, Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, and Central and South Americans.

These subsets of Hispanic populations reside in the United States but tend to be lumped under the larger umbrella of Hispanics who are often referred to as Latinos, the largest and fastest growing minority group in the US. READ MORE AT Onco'Zine

The American Society for Engineering Education, or ASEE, has listed the Michigan State University College of Engineering among the nation’s leaders in inclusive excellence. The designation earns MSU a Bronze Award– the highest level of recognition presented by the ASEE Diversity Recognition Program. READ MORE AT MSUTODAY

The U.S. Hispanic population reached a record 59.9 million in 2018, up 1.2 million over the previous year and up from 47.8 million in 2008, according to newly released U.S. Census Bureau population estimates. Over the past decade, however, population growth among Hispanics has slowed as the annual number of births to Hispanic women has declined and immigration has decreased, particularly from Mexico.

Even so, Latinos remain an important part of the nation’s overall demographic story. READ MORE AT PEW RESEARCH CENTER

Hispanic adults in the United States have higher life expectancy compared to non-Hispanic whites and non-Hispanic blacks, two groups for which a trend of decreasing death rates has plateaued.

That's according to data released Tuesday by the National Center for Health Statistics in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. READ MORE DESERET NEWS

It’s no secret that diversity is good for business. Organizations recognize the value of diversity and inclusion (D&I) practices, procedures and programs and have implemented a number of these into the workplace. When implementing, it is important to recognize which of these D&I policies employees actually want, which may increase their effectiveness. READ MORE AT FORBES

Found your dream job? Don’t be so confident that you’ll get hired: It’s very likely that there are several other qualified candidates competing for that same position.

That’s where the cover letter comes in. Including a cover letter to complement your resume can be an effective way to impress hiring managers: It displays your strong writing skills, sets you apart from other applicants and shows that you went the extra mile. READ MORE AT CNBC

The United States economy on Monday hit a milestone, reaching its longest expansion on record. Just a decade ago, the nation was mired in a severe recession that had erased trillions of dollars in wealth and left millions of people out of work.

While the recovery has delivered uneven gains, Hispanic women have emerged as the biggest job market winners in an economy that has now grown for 121 straight months, assuming data released in coming months confirms continued growth. READ MORE AT THE NEW YORK TIMES

When you’re looking for a new job, the time it takes can feel brutal. Every day, you hope the right job will fall into your lap. Not only are you anxious about this, so are your friends and family. They’ve never seen a job search take so long. Something must be wrong. Right? Not necessarily.

There are a few things to consider when it comes to getting a new job. First, think about this. When you finished college, you would take any job, working anywhere, doing anything, for any amount of money. You had never worked before. You just needed something to put on your resume.

But, after you got a little bit of experience under your belt, you started to know yourself better. You realized that you’re good at a certain type of work. Maybe you need to live in a certain city now. You may be married or own a home. And, you may need to make a certain amount of money. READ MORE AT THE JOURNAL RECORD

With minorities at a disadvantage, many federal, state, and private programs have turned their focus to helping create a level playing field for disadvantaged groups who want to start a business. Among those are small business loans. Here are the ones focused on assisting those from disadvantaged groups, including minorities, tribes, women, and veterans, and economically-challenged rural owners. READ MORE AT NAV

Driving down Race Street, you'll see banners and signs touting names like "Mundo Latino Records," "Restaurante Mi Laurita," and "La Mexicana. Tienda y Taqueria."

“This is pretty much the center of the Hispanic community in Georgetown,” said Jonathan Rodriguez, 32, who runs one of his family's grocery stores and a restaurant on that street.

It's evidence of the flourishing population of people from Latin American countries who've settled in a county known for supporting President Donald Trump and the Republican Party.

As of 2017, the Hispanic population of Sussex County is 9%, but in Georgetown, it's a higher 32%. READ MORE AT DELEWARE ONLINE

Marking the first of its kind in Chicago, Rayito de Sol, 2550 W. Addison St., is an award-winning Spanish immersion daycare and preschool has opened its doors in the Roscoe Village neighborhood. The one-of-a-kind early childhood facility features traditional décor and offers both full and part-time childcare, allowing children to consciously grasp both the Spanish and English languages while receiving personalized care and attention from licensed and experienced native Spanish-
speaking educators.

Designed to stimulate students aged six weeks to pre-school, the daycare was founded
in Minneapolis by Luisa Fuentes in 2003. While seeking a Spanish-immersion school for
her then three-year-old son, the Peruvian mother founded Rayito de Sol, meaning Little
Ray of Sun, to offer a year-round Spanish immersion program where kids can learn
science, math, art, music and cultural development while being fueled with bilingual
education, Spanish culture and diversity. All programs integrate the STEAM curriculum
in their daily activities.

“We prepare our children to think globally which will set them up for success in today’s
global economy,” says Fuentes. In addition, children that enter the program full-time at
three-years-old will most likely become fluent in basic conversational Spanish by the
time they start kindergarten.

The new Chicago facility is licensed for 187 students, and children are separated into
classrooms designated by age. All classrooms feature bright colors, natural light,
interactive and educational entertainment elements and accommodate both individual
and group learning, with authentic design elements from many Spanish-speaking
cultures. The facility serves organic and balanced meals made with fresh, wholesome,
and natural ingredients nourishing a child’s growth path. Staff ratios range from one
childcare professional for every four infants, to one per 10 preschoolers aged three to
five.

Rayito de Sol also offers a Summer Camp Spanish Immersion Program that includes a
full Spanish immersion curriculum with indoor and outdoor activities such as yoga,
professional Latin dance, drama, music and piñata parties monthly for toddlers and
preschoolers children up to seven years of age.

For more information on Rayito de Sol, please visit www.rayitoschools or call
312.819.5077. - 773.999.5799 To schedule a tour of Rayito de Sol, please visit
www.rayitoschools.com/contact-rayito.

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Cancer is the leading cause of death among Latinos in this country: according to the American Cancer Society, 1 in 3 Latino women living in the United States will be diagnosed with cancer. Today there are 59.8 million Latinos in the U.S.; 48% of them are women, which means at least 9 million Latinas’ are at risk because of cancer. READ MORE AT D CEO HEALTHCARE

A new study found that universities have not made much progress on faculty diversity initiatives, despite more attention and money being given to race and inclusivity issues.

The study, published by South Texas College of Law’s Hispanic Journal of Law and Policy, concluded that colleges have not seen substantial growth in the diversity of faculty between 2013 and 2017, according to Inside Higher Ed. READ MORE AT CAMPUS REFORM

The Eva Longoria Foundation conducted a study to find out what helps Latinas succeed, and it boiled down to having an engaged parent.

“It’s saying the word ‘college’ in your household,” she said. “Supporting them during homework time. Going to school to advocate for them to get in a different class.”

Participation in after-school programs also contributed heavily to success, Longoria said. READ MORE AT NBCNEWS

Often, the best way to confront a scandal is to avoid creating one in the first place.

Chanel’s choice to not automatically install a person of color as its diversity and inclusion lead could be looked at twofold: first, that the brand seeks to avoid any appearance of pandering or tokenism by simply hiring someone they considered the best qualified for the position.

Conversely, one might also wonder how seriously Chanel regards the diversity conversation and the countless cultural minutiae that having more people of color in leadership roles might help safeguard against. READ MORE AT THE ROOT