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For decades, many employers treated salary information as something to be revealed only after a candidate completed several interviews and the organization was ready to make an offer. The logic was that delaying the conversation preserved negotiating leverage, prevented internal comparisons and allowed hiring managers to evaluate candidates without compensation becoming the primary focus.

That strategy is increasingly incompatible with the modern labor market.

When an employer asks applicants to

Every year from September 15 through October 15, National Hispanic Heritage Month recognizes the history, culture and contributions of Hispanic and Latino Americans. In 2026, the national theme, “Unidos, Somos Más,” or “Together, We Are More,” carries particular significance. It speaks not only to cultural unity, but also to the growing economic, demographic and civic influence of a community reshaping the future of the United States.

Hispanic Heritage Month is often associated with festivals, f

Beautiful weather, sweeping city views and a wall-to-wall crowd set the stage last Friday for the 18th Annual ¡Viva La Hispanidad! Hispanic Heritage Month Kickoff Celebration at I|O Godfrey Roofscape. Latino professionals, entrepreneurs, business leaders and community advocates came together for an open-air evening dedicated to culture, connection and opportunity.

The evening demonstrated why Hispanic Heritage Month remains more than a cultural observance. It is also an important moment to recog

Uplift Latina editorial series

The future of the American economy is increasingly Latina.

Latinas are launching businesses, earning college degrees, directing household spending and expanding their presence across nearly every major industry. Their economic output has reached $1.3 trillion, an amount comparable to the economy of a major U.S. state and larger than the gross domestic product of many countries. Yet their compensation, access to capital and representation in senior leadership remain

Artificial intelligence has made it possible to produce a polished cover letter in less than a minute. A job seeker can paste a position description into an AI tool, upload a résumé and receive a professional sounding letter filled with the employer’s keywords. The document may be grammatically correct, properly structured and seemingly tailored to the opportunity.

Yet many of these letters still fail to generate interviews.

The problem is not necessarily that employers oppose artificial intelli

The health and fitness story of America’s Hispanic and Latino community cannot be reduced to a single statistic. It is a story of serious chronic health disparities, unequal access to care and neighborhoods where healthy choices are often more difficult or expensive. At the same time, it is also a story of cultural resilience, growing economic power and a rapidly evolving definition of wellness.

Across the country, Latino consumers are embracing strength training, walking groups, dance fitness,

Today, on the 25th anniversary of September 11, Americans are gathering at Ground Zero in New York City, at the Pentagon and at the Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Names are being read aloud, bells are tolling and moments of silence are marking the events that forever changed our nation.

September 11 reminds us that freedom is never free. The liberties and opportunities we enjoy were secured and protected through the courage, service and sacrifice of generations of Amer

For millions of professionals, applying for a job now begins with a familiar ritual. A candidate finds an opening, updates a résumé, completes an online application and waits. Sometimes a rejection arrives within hours. In other cases, there is no response at all. The applicant may never know whether a recruiter reviewed the résumé, an automated system ranked it too low or a knockout question removed it from consideration.

This uncertainty is especially important for Hispanic professionals. Auto

For decades, the American formula for professional success appeared straightforward: earn a four-year degree, secure a white-collar position and climb the corporate ladder. Skilled trades were too often presented as a second choice reserved for people who were supposedly not “college material.” That hierarchy shaped how schools advised students, how parents measured achievement and how society defined professional status.

The economics are now forcing the country to reconsider that assumption. T

We all know the expression “Latino time.” We joke about it because we've lived it. Tell everyone the family gathering starts at 6 p.m., and there is a reasonable chance somebody interprets that as the time they should start thinking about getting ready.

And “Latino time” doesn't discriminate based on education or professional status. The blue collar worker can fall into it. So can the corporate executive. So can the person with a PhD. Degrees, titles and income do not necessarily make any of us

Hispanic Heritage Month is an opportunity to celebrate our culture, history and contributions, but its greatest value may be found in what happens when the right people, organizations and resources come together. Tomorrow evening, Latino professionals, business leaders, entrepreneurs, community advocates and allies will gather in downtown Chicago for a celebration designed to create exactly that kind of connection.

The 18th Annual ¡Viva La Hispanidad! Hispanic Heritage Month Kickoff Celebration

Founder’s Perspective, By Alfonso Barrera, Founder, HispanicPro – The Hispanic Professional Network

More than 20 years ago, during a meeting of Allstate’s Latino employee resource group at the company’s former headquarters in Northfield, Illinois, I heard Dr. Robert Rodriguez offer a piece of advice about networking that has stayed with me ever since:

“Don’t be a 911 networker.”

The phrase was simple, but the message behind it changed the way I thought about professional relationships. Do not w

There is a natural tendency when we walk into a professional gathering to find someone we already know. A familiar face makes the room more comfortable. We start talking with a friend, colleague or former coworker, and before we realize it, much of the evening has been spent with people who were already part of our professional world.

Those relationships matter. But there is another opportunity standing in the same room that can be much easier to overlook: the people you do not know.

Some of the

Hispanic Heritage Month celebrations are often built around music, food and cultural pride. Those elements matter because they create the energy and shared identity that bring people together. But the most valuable celebrations also create something that lasts long after the evening ends: access to people, organizations and relationships capable of moving careers, businesses and communities forward.

That is what will distinguish the 18th Annual ¡Viva La Hispanidad! Hispanic Heritage Month Kickof

f you have been thinking about starting a business, the question may no longer be whether entrepreneurship is worth exploring. The more useful question may be why you are still waiting.

America is experiencing a remarkable period of entrepreneurial activity. The U.S. Census Bureau recorded 578,926 business applications in July 2026 alone, seasonally adjusted, an increase of 8.1% from June. The Census Bureau projects that nearly 30,000 employer businesses will ultimately emerge from that single m

Leaving a job is supposed to create a clean professional break. You turn in the laptop, surrender the badge, lose access to internal systems and move on to the next chapter of your career while the organization removes your access and updates its records. Yet in an economy increasingly dependent on freelancers, contractors, consultants and project-based workers, that separation is not always as clean as companies assume. Former workers can remain buried inside email distribution lists, schedulin

Hispanic Heritage Month is a celebration of culture, history and identity, but it is also an important reminder of the growing influence Hispanic professionals, entrepreneurs and consumers have on the American economy. Cultural pride and professional advancement are not separate conversations. They intersect whenever people gather to exchange ideas, create partnerships, share opportunities and strengthen the institutions serving their communities.

That intersection will be visible on Friday, Sep

Labor Day is often treated as the unofficial conclusion of summer, but its meaning reaches far beyond a three-day weekend. The holiday recognizes the generations of American workers whose labor, organizing and perseverance helped build the nation’s economy while advancing workplace protections that many employees now take for granted. It also gives professionals, business owners and entrepreneurs a timely opportunity to consider what work means, where their careers are heading and what they inte

Flexible work has become one of the most valuable forms of workplace currency. Employees may not see it on a paycheck, but the ability to work from home can reduce commuting expenses, return hours to the week and make it easier to manage family, health and personal responsibilities. That is precisely why inconsistent access to flexibility can create so much resentment.

When a manager regularly works remotely but refuses similar requests from employees whose responsibilities can also be performed

Artificial intelligence can revise a résumé, analyze a job description, prepare interview questions and draft a polished networking message in seconds. It can help professionals research companies, identify marketable skills and communicate more effectively. What it cannot do is walk into a room, recognize an unexpected opportunity or create the trust that develops when two people speak face to face.

That distinction is becoming more important as AI-generated communication floods the professiona