Gary Acosta is an entrepreneur, public policy advocate, investor, and thought leader passionate about advancing prosperity for Latinos and other underserved communities.

Politically, are Latinos a Paper Tiger?

Last summer, I participated in a fundraiser for Congressman Tony Cárdenas in San Fernando, CA. We raised about $12K from a network of Latino small business professionals. The congressman was pleasantly surprised…Why? Because even though he is one of the strongest Latino advocates in government, Cárdenas told me that more than 95% of his political…

Marie Yovanovitch and Fiona Hill

This week, the media was dominated by the impeachment hearings. While I am going to save my opinion on the subject for another time, watching Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch and Fiona Hill testify convinced me of two things: First, knowing that there are smart, dedicated people like this in our government gives me confidence that despite…

Should Billionaires Exist?

Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren think billionaires shouldn’t exist. This has caused some well publicized indignation on the part of some famous billionaires like Blackstone’s Stephen A. Schwarzman, who countered by saying “Maybe Bernie Sanders shouldn’t exist”. In fairness to Sanders and Warren, I don’t think they are calling for the elimination of anyone in…

What do Latinos really want?

I have been thinking a lot about what Latinos really want, and perhaps a better question is what do they really need. Everything I do with NAHREP, The Hispanic Wealth Project, and L’ATTITUDE is about answering those questions. We talk a lot about creating a new narrative for the Latino community. Not an easy undertaking,…

Leadership

I’ve been talking about leadership a lot lately. It’s an interesting topic because the qualities that create a great leader are sometimes difficult to define. The concept of emotional intelligence has become better understood in recent years and there are some good books on the subject. Great leaders have vision, integrity, good communication skills, and…

Venture Capital

I spent the Friday in El Paso with my friend Beto Pallares. Beto is an amazing guy. He holds several degrees including a BA from Brandeis and a PhD from UTEP. He manages a $150M venture fund for one of the wealthiest families in all of Texas. He also sits on eight corporate boards, but…