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.
The Academy Awards has a long history of being a place where celebrities share their political views and this year was no exception. Joaquin Phoenix won the Oscar for Best Actor for his brilliant performance in Joker. He used his time on stage to make his case for the environment and the treatment of animals.…
For those that don’t follow the Academy Awards, Parasite, a film directed by Bong Joon-Ho, won the Oscar for Best Picture. The film was made in South Korea with English subtitles. It is the first non-English language film to win Best Picture. I haven’t seen the film yet, but I think it’s cool that the…
FORBES/KEVIN WINTER/GETTY IMAGES Several weeks ago, I mentioned that I had joined the board of the Latino Donor Collaborative – an organization started by Sol Trujillo that is focused on improving the narrative about Latinos in America. The board of the LDC looks like a “who’s who” of Latino executives and entrepreneurs including Linda Alvarado,…
In our current hyper-polarized political environment, I don’t think many people were surprised that Trump was impeached by the House of Representatives and acquitted by the Senate. Now that it’s over, and Trump is taking a victory lap, the question at this point is how does any of this affect the 2020 presidential election and…
I don’t have many heroes who are younger than me, but Kobe Bryant was one of my biggest heroes. On Sunday, January 26th at 11:44 AM PST, I was at a hotel gym in Colorado Springs doing a light work-out. I was getting dressed in the locker room when my friend, Raul Espinosa sent me…
Oscar Munoz, the CEO of United Airlines, and the only American-born Hispanic CEO of a major corporation, announced his retirement last month. He will step down as CEO in May and will take the position of board chairman. United is the largest U.S.-based airline and the 76th largest U.S. corporation according to Fortune Magazine. Under…
Photo Credit: Jamie Lamor Thompson / Shutterstock.com For the first time in 50 years, the Kansas City Chiefs will play in the Super Bowl. The Chiefs will square off against the San Francisco 49ers. The Chiefs were almost knocked out of the playoffs in the first round when they trailed the Houston Texans 24-0 in…
NAHREP is hosting its National Convention and Housing Policy Summit on March 16-18 in Washington DC. Almost everyone I speak to these days is talking about how technology is affecting the real estate industry, and especially how it is changing the way real estate agents prospect and conduct the sales process. For years, companies like…
I have been traveling quite a bit since the holidays. I’ve always traveled extensively for my work with NAHREP but this year I have supplemented that travel with a 20-city tour promoting L’ATTITUDE. The plan is to meet with Latino business leaders in twenty major markets throughout the country, creating awareness about L’ATTITUDE and getting…
The narrative in the sports world this week was dominated with the bruhaha around the Houston Astros cheating scandal. For those that don’t read the sports page, Major League Baseball suspended Astros Manager, A.J. Hinch and GM Jeff Luhnow for orchestrating a sophisticated signal stealing scheme dating back to their 2017 championship team.
Former HUD Secretary, Julián Castro ended his presidential campaign last week with an announcement simply stating that it was clearly not his time. While Castro never polled beyond four percent, he ran an outstanding campaign – doing especially well in the debates he was able to participate in.
Under the direction of President Donald Trump, U.S. military forces killed the top military general of Iran. News of this has created a firestorm of speculation about what this means and whether it was the right decision. There is little debate that Qasem Soleimani was an enemy of the United States.
Lin-Manuel Miranda says he began writing the musical, In the Heights, when he as a nineteen-year-old college student. After a couple of friends from Wesleyan University offered to help produce the show, Miranda took his idea first to a regional theater in Connecticut, and ultimately to Broadway, where in 2008, it won four Tony Awards,…
Photo Credit: Antonello Marangi / Shutterstock.com If you believe, like most scientists, that climate change is largely man-made and poses an existential threat to humanity, then you probably feel a pretty strong sense of urgency about doing something about it. Especially if you are a young person. Greta Thunberg embodies that sentiment probably more than…
People have been asking me what do I think about Michael Bloomberg entering the presidential race. I have to say that I’m not sure. Bloomberg supporters point to his success as mayor of New York and the fact that his wealth makes Donald Trump’s seem paltry. However, I can’t see the base of the Democratic…
If the era of Donald Trump has taught us anything, it is that America wants a different brand of political leadership. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think this means petty and corrupt, but I think it means candidates and ideas that break the mold. That’s why it’s always disconcerting to see Democratic and Republican…
It’s fun to win, and with the NBA’s best record at 20-3, LeBron James has been doing plenty of winning. James is also enjoying the success of his HBO series, The Shop, and his many other television and film projects. Two years ago, the scuttlebutt around the sports world was that James was moving to…
A couple of weeks ago, I met with Latino business leaders in New York City. This past week, I was in Dallas doing the same. The thrust behind the meetings is to start to build a network of Latino business professionals who could assist us in building our program and spreading the word about our…
I’m big believer in the concept of original thought. While I admire people who can run a business, play an instrument, or perfect a process, I have always been more interested in people who write the music, invent new technology, or essentially have the ability to create something that is totally original. Some of us…
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…
