Gary Acosta is an entrepreneur, public policy advocate, investor, and thought leader passionate about advancing prosperity for Latinos and other underserved communities. As an industry leader, he protects and improves the business environment required to close the wealth gap, particularly via homeownership. Amongst other endeavors, he is Co-Founder & CEO of NAHREP, the country’s leading Hispanic business organization, and Co-Founder of L’ATTITUDE, the preeminent platform for Latino economic empowerment. Acosta is also a general partner of L’ATTITUDE Ventures, the nation’s largest venture capital fund exclusively focused on Latino-led start-ups. Join Gary as he dives into today’s issues through many creative formats.
Speaking of reading….I’m a busy person, and while I love to read books, I don’t always have the time. On a recommendation, I purchased an app called Blinklist, and it’s the best app I’ve stumbled on this year. In a nutshell, Blinklist is CliffsNotes in an app. You can read or listen to a 15-minute…
For those of us who are missing sports, The Last Dance, has become a weekly sanctuary. The ESPN 10-part documentary takes a deep dive into the career of basketball legend, Michael Jordan. Jordan is widely considered the greatest basketball player of all time, but the film is a lot more than a collage of basketball…
Everyone is wondering what will happen in the next few months. Will things get back to normal? Will we still be in quarantine? Will there be a second wave of infection? Literally, nobody knows for sure, but I have my own opinion. I think there will be some breakthroughs in the next month or two…
Prior to the pandemic, NAHREP was building a world class lineup for the fall convention. I was convinced it was going to be our best ever. The goal was to create a program that would be rich with content and provided our members with an experience that would last a lifetime. While a live event…
While I believe the world will begin to normalize over the summer, large gatherings will probably have limitations for a lot longer, perhaps well into next year. This means that virtual events will remain the way people congregate for quite a while, and they probably will become a permanent fixture. However, the novelty of the…
In the face of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, the government launched the Paycheck Protection Program, a trillion-dollar effort to incentivize employers to retain their employees during the quarantine and maintain most of their compensation. The program was administered by the Small Business Association (SBA) and provided forgivable loans to eligible employers…
When this is all over, I will have fully replaced vodka martinis for red wine as my drink of choice. Wine is healthier and a lot more sophisticated. I downloaded an app called Vivino that has a feature where you can snap a picture with your phone of the label of a bottle of wine…
The stock market had a great week, at the same time a record six million people filed for unemployment benefits. It doesn’t take a genius to realize there is something incongruent with these two data points. Our economy succeeds when there is a healthy balance of buyers and sellers of goods and services. The cataclysmic…
Here are some things I have been thinking about that will likely be permanent changes to our way of living. Some will cause business and investment opportunities. Baby Boomers will move online. COVID-19 is forcing Boomers to buy everything online from groceries to prescription medications. America’s wealthiest generation, who has been notoriously slow to transition to…
Photo credit: lev radin / Shutterstock.com Restaurant entrepreneur and master chef José Andrés is the kind of human being we should all strive to be. His World Central Kitchen is feeding millions of health workers, victims, and families of the COVID-19 pandemic. Yesterday, Oprah Winfrey announced she would donate $1M to his charity. Andrés, who…
While so many people are suffering because of COVID-19, it seems wrong to suggest that anything good will come of this, When things settle down, I think there will be positive outcomes we can point to. The time spent with my immediate family is something I know I will cherish. I am very close to…
I drafted the NAHREP 10 four years ago as a tool for the Hispanic Wealth Project and a guide to NAHREP’s growing membership. The goal was to establish a set of principles that position the Latino community for greater prosperity and an enhanced quality of life. The NAHREP 10 has also provided NAHREP with a set of…
A little over a month ago, I was in New Orleans for a conference. I took an Uber to the airport when I was leaving and the driver was a Latino guy. I had not been in New Orleans for many years, and did not recall seeing many Latinos the last time I was there.…
Photo credit: Postmodern Studio / Shutterstock.com As we all spend more time in front of our computers, it is probably a good idea to review a few resources on how to best host and participate in a video conference. I prefer Zoom, and CNBC put together a nice tutorial on the various ways to use it effectively.…
My friend Ruben Navarrette referred me to an inspiring hashtag on Twitter, #WhenThisIsAllOver. People from all over are posting things they think or hope will happen when this pandemic is behind us. Some are funny, like “#WhenThisIsAllOver we will all have bidets”, and some are more heartfelt such as “#WhenThisIsAllOver I will visit my parents…
I have recently discussed the importance of having a routine, and setting goals for my children while we are all home fighting the spread of COVID-19. I am going to use this time to get more physically fit, do more strategic thinking, and read more books. The three books I plan to read this month…
While slowing the spread of COVID-19 should be everyone’s priority, the economic well-being of our communities is also vital. NAHREP sent a letter to the President, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell that advocated for homeowners and renters in distress, small business owners and consumers struggling financially. The letter was also…
It’s disconcerting to see how politicized the coronavirus issue has become, though in the highly polarized environment we live in, I guess it shouldn’t be a surprise. Depending on the media source we choose, people are either excessively panicking or posting ignorance that suggests coronavirus is a non-issue or just another flu. Both are wrong.…
Like most organizations, NAHREP was forced to cancel its convention which was scheduled for this week. Over 1,100 people were registered and we had a great program in place so it was unfortunate that we had to cancel, but it was definitely the right decision. Our sponsors, chapters, members, boards, and partners have been supportive…
This week I was in New York for L’ATTITUDE meetings with CNBC and American Express. I also had the chance to meet up with Claudia Romo Edelman, a career diplomat with the United Nations and the World Economic Forum. Claudia is a force of nature and recently launched an organization and campaign called “We Are All…
