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Out of the sorrow of 2020, shared experiences through the virtual vortex of our home computers, phones and smart TVs managed to create organic and emotionally binding moments across the spectrum of U.S. society. At the core of many of these moments were people of Latin origins. READ MORE AT THE LOS ANGELES TIMES

I recently noticed my friend added the descriptor “Latina-owned small business” on her website and related accounts. She’s not Latina. Neither is anyone in her immediate family, her extended family, nor ancestrally. She’s a white woman. I am Latina, and my culture is very important to me. READ MORE AT SLATE

CVS Pharmacy is introducing its Hispanic-focused format to New Jersey and New York with 12 stores, including one on Long Island – in Central Islip, at 2 E. Suffolk Ave.

Called CVS Pharmacy y más, the stores have bilingual staff, signs in Spanish, and "more than 1,500 products from trusted Hispanic brands. READ MORE AT NEWSDAY

The West Michigan Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Foundation received a $100,000 grant from Bank of America to support its Transformando West Michigan initiative to launch the Latinx Business Restart Program.

The Hispanic chamber said the program is designed to provide local Hispanic businesses with assistance to restart and improve their businesses once the state deems it safe to do so over the next coming weeks and months through training and coaching. READ MORE AT GRAND RAPIDS BUSINESS JOURNAL

President-elect Joe Biden will add to the diversity of his incoming administration on Wednesday when he introduces Miguel Cardona as his choice for U.S. Secretary of Education.

Cardona, currently the education commissioner for the state of Connecticut and a former teacher, would be another Latino addition to Biden’s top team, after advocacy groups urged the former vice president to appoint Hispanic Americans to senior roles.

If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Cardona would be charged with helping

The massive legislation package passed by Congress Monday night also greenlights the establishment of two long-awaited Smithsonian museums in the nation's capital: one focused on American Latinos and another dedicated to American women's history.

Though the museums could take years to conceptualize, curate and build, Congress' approval is a victory for the museums' advocates whose efforts date back decades. READ MORE AT CNN

Often hailed for higher-than-average rates of entrepreneurialism and new business formation, the Latino community has been struck particularly hard by the Covid-19 crisis.

Help was also harder to come by for Latino business owners, who had less cash on hand when requesting Covid assistance in the form of PPP loans, and were only half as likely as their White counterparts to receive the federal loans. READ MORE AT CNBC

We all know that more diverse companies perform better than their peers. McKinsey’s most recent study found that “companies in the top quartile for gender diversity on executive teams were 25% more likely to have above-average profitability”, and in terms of ethnic and cultural diversity “top-quartile companies outperformed those in the fourth one by 36% in profitability”.

However, Women in the Workplace research, carried out during the pandemic together with Lean In, has suggested that one in

New data from the CDC this month continues to show the disproportionate impact the pandemic is having on certain communities. Those numbers show that Latinos are being hospitalized at almost four times the rate of whites. Polling has also shown that Latinos are less likely to trust a vaccine. So why is that? READ MORE AT NPR

Over the last few months, the world has changed, and with it there has been an even greater realization that diversity and inclusion (D&I) efforts are important for all workers, not just some.

Leaders in D&I among contingent workers agree that they reap bottom-line benefits, such as being 27% more likely to agree that their ability to attract talent is a competitive advantage, 24% more likely to agree to achieving a high return on investment (ROI) for contingent work, and have a 19% greater acc

The Aspen Institute and the Microfinance Impact Collaborative today announced the creation of the Entrepreneur Backed Assets (EBA) Fund, which will strengthen the capacity of community-based financial institutions to lend to small businesses in low-income communities and those owned by people of color.

The fund, which will create a secondary market for loans originated by community-based microlenders, has been launched with initial grant funding from the Citi Foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gate

After months of planning, Best Buy (BBY) is putting its money where its mouth is to improve diversity throughout the retail giant’s organization.

The company on Wednesday announced it would set aside $44 million to expand college prep and career opportunities for Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC). Specifics include investing more in Best Buy’s teen tech centers, creating a scholarship fund for teens in the retailer’s Twin Cities hometown, and offering 340 jobs across the company to

Families of color were already trailing their White peers in retirement savings. Then the coronavirus pandemic hit, adding a further hurdle to retirement planning for minorities in the U.S.

More than 60% of Hispanic households are at risk of being unable to maintain their current standard of living in retirement, along with 54% of Black households and 48% of White households, according to the latest available data from the National Retirement Risk Index calculated by the Center for Retirement R

One of the many things the Black Lives Matter movement has done this year is to shine a bright light on diversity and inclusion (D&I) in the workplace. And when you consider 66 per cent of FTSE 100 companies have all-white management teams and just 3.5 per cent of senior executives come from a BAME – Black, Asian and minority ethnic – background, you can start to see why. READ MORE AT RACONTEUR

With passion and flair, Latinas are rising up in business. Stanford Graduate School of Business data shows Latin-owned businesses could add $1.5 trillion to the U.S. economy. Check out this list of Latinas to Watch in 2021 from Pagne PR.

Crystal Garcia, Lateena Tees

Crystal couldn't find shirts that represented her. Lateena Tees embodies Crystal's desire to encourage Latina women to pursue big ideas. Crystal says, "Watching someone relate to the product brings me joy." READ MORE AT CISION

When America shut down during the start of the pandemic, many businesses struggled. But for a couple of Latina business owners in East Texas, surviving the pandemic wasn’t nearly as brutal as it could have been.

According to a study by Stanford University, Hispanic communities are strengthening American economies. Latin and immigrant entrepreneurs start more businesses than native-born Americans and grow revenue more quickly than the economy as a whole. READ MORE AT KTBS ABC

Plenty of offices will be empty until well into 2021, so there’s no time like the present to seek feedback from the boss and brush up on your skills.

To keep progressing professionally, reach out for feedback, polish your skills and stay visible (on Zoom, Slack or however you keep in touch with your bosses). READ MORE AT THE NEW YORK TIMES

A mountain of evidence over the past two decades shows that workforce diversity leads to measurable improvements in financial outcomes. That’s according to a recent report from The Center for Financial Planning, which explored the business case for diversity and inclusion. READ MORE AT BENEFITSPRO

As the coronavirus continues to ravage the United States, it also continues to disproportionately impact Latino communities. Latinos are being hospitalized at more than four times the rate of white people. (African Americans and Native Americans are also being hospitalized at similar rates.)

“Latinos Are Essential,” a new series of documentary shorts released on Tuesday from Latino Public Broadcasting (LPB) and PBS, attempts to shed light on this imbalance by telling 11 stories of struggle and

Reaching Hispanics only becomes more and more important for credit unions as this segment of our nation’s population continues to grow.

Consider this: Hispanics accounted for 52% of the nation’s population growth from 2010 to 2019, according to the Pew Research Center, and the number of Hispanics in the U.S. reached 60.6 million in 2019, making up 18% of the total population.

Here are eight keys for success that we’ve learned so far. READ MORE AT CREDIT UNION TIMES