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.
On the heels of his World Cup performance with Will Smith, Nicky Jam, AKA Nick Rivera Caminero, is the hottest Latin Hip Hop artist in the world. However, a few years ago, the current king of “Reggeaton” was struggling with his career and moved to Colombia for a few years, doing a little concert promoting…
I have been thinking a lot about leadership lately, especially considering NAHREP will have the great John C. Maxwell at the national convention in September. Maxwell is widely considered one of the foremost authorities on the subject of leadership. Unlike other more quantifiable skills such as those in accounting, legal, science, or technology, leadership skills…
We all know how Amazon is dominating the retail sales world. They can cause the stock valuations of an entire business sector to plummet just by sticking their toe in a new business category (see grocery and pharma). So who is going to challenge them? My bet is Walmart. Walmart has more cash flow and…
Shout out to Zoe Saldana for her viral video on the continued plight in PR. The mega movie star shared some historical information about the American territory and made the case why it is every bit as important as every other region in America. There are parts of Puerto Rico that are doing better, but…
What does conservative icon, Bill O’Reilly have in common with liberal talking head, Chris Matthews? They both consider former Attorney General, Robert F. Kennedy a role model and a hero. I have been reading Matthews’ book Robert Kennedy “A Raging Spirit” and recognized how few politicians do things simply because they are the right things…
Almost everyone is aware that LeBron James, the greatest basketball player in a generation, exercised his option to become a free agent and promptly signed with the Los Angeles Lakers. After the worst five years in franchise history, Laker fans like me were thrilled with the news. However, it also reinforced the sobering fact that…
The signs are there. Interest rates are rising, gas prices are surging, and the deficit is blowing up. A recession is right around the corner. This is the time to start thinking lean, and avoid any new long-term liabilities. For self-employed people this is especially important. People who own their own business are by definition,…
On Friday, many of us awoke to the news that Anthony Bourdain, the rock star of the culinary world, had died by suicide. It was devastating news for millions of people from around the world and I must admit it made me tear-up. I was a fan of Bourdain, and referred to him on my…
If you follow the news at all, you know that Hispanics are dealing with discrimination and other problems to a greater degree than in previous years. Yet despite the heartbreaking stories about families being separated, and the idiots who denigrate our contributions to the American condition (which all will pass someday soon), there has never…
Is Lebron James the greatest basketball player of all time? Are the Warriors the best team ever? Who knows? The Warriors clinched their third NBA championship in the last four years and that puts them in a very small class of great teams. Lebron on the other hand, seemed to elevate his already brilliant game…
Some of you may have heard about Mamoudou Gassama, an undocumented immigrant from Africa who saved a little boy that was dangling from the balcony of an apartment building outside of Paris. For those who haven’t seen the video, Gassama, with Spiderman-like speed and strength, fearlessly scaled four stories up the side of the building…
This week I had the privilege of spending two days in L.A. with the Latino Donor Collaborative. I have written about the organization many times and one of the things they do is host intimate convenings where the highest ranking people in entertainment and business get together with the LDC board and discuss the primary…
Less than 3% of high school basketball players go on to play at a four-year college — less than 1% play division one. The numbers are slightly better for other sports. With odds like that it is shocking to some people that the business of youth sports is now a 12 billion dollar industry. Critics…
Anybody interested in seeing a great movie on the mortgage meltdown should watch the 2011 film, Margin Call, written and directed by J.C. Chandor. The film is a fictional characterization of a boutique Wall Street firm that figures out that the trading algorithms most of Wall Street was depending on to gauge the risk of…
Most of you probably heard that the NFL ruled this week that beginning next season players who don’t stand for the national anthem could be penalized and fined. I’ve already written about how I feel about the subject; I think the players should be allowed to protest peacefully. However, while it’s no surprise that Whites…
A few years ago, my family rented an apartment in New York City for a month during the summer. My kids were very active in theater at the time and were looking for workshops in the city to hone their skills. My daughter, Marisa was specifically looking for something comedy related. We found a company…
My two youngest kids are moving on to major milestones. Marisa graduated from college this weekend and Aaron is graduating from high school next month. This Summer may be my last chance to provide them with some useful wisdom that will help prepare them for life. You might be surprised, but my intent is to…
I must admit that I didn’t know anything about Donald Glover or his musical persona, Childish Gambino, until he hosted Saturday Night Live last week. The talented writer, comic, actor, singer and New York University alumnus is on the cusp of superstardom. This past week he released the most provocative song and music video of…
This past week, I was in Miami with my NAHREP familia discussing the recent Hispanic Wealth Project (HWP) Annual Report. The report discusses trends in Hispanic household wealth in America. The financial clout of the Hispanic community is growing, but the metric we hear most frequently is Hispanic buying power not wealth. The fact is, Hispanic…
John Kelly, the current WH Chief of Staff and former Secretary of Homeland Security made news this week when he said that most Mexican immigrants do not assimilate well into American culture because they are rural, unskilled and do not speak English. For these reasons, Kelly believes they should be kept from entering the country…
