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.
Despite rising interest rates and tight inventory, Hispanics purchased homes in droves during the first quarter of 2018 according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The Hispanic homeownership rate increased from 46.2 percent in Q4 of 2017 to 48.4 percent in Q1 of this year. The increase corresponded with a net gain of more than 250,000…
Running NAHREP has taught me a great deal about leadership and company culture. I get to interface with a lot of companies and business owners, and I occasionally get to see under the hood. By running NAHREP I’ve also learned that in an organization with over 30,000 members and volunteers, inspiration is the lifeblood. Company…
Some of you may know that I had the privilege of playing college basketball for Gregg Popovich, the current head coach of the San Antonio Spurs and the greatest pro basketball coach of his generation. I played at Pomona College in Southern California and Popovich was the head coach – his first job as a…
If you saw the FX series about the shocking murder of fashion icon, Gianni Versace, you probably didn’t notice something that I doubt has ever occurred before in film or television. The cast of the acclaimed series (it earned 86% positive ratings according to Rotten Tomatoes), starred three Hispanic actors who all played Italian characters…
Some of you may know that I have been spending most weekends with Sol Trujillo planning and prepping for L’ATTITUDE, a seminal event that will bring together the largest collection of Latino movers and shakers ever assembled. Robert Rodriguez, Zoe Saldana, Oscar Muñoz, CEO of United Airlines, Governor Bill Richardson, Guillermo Diaz, CIO of Cisco,…
I have been watching the CNN series, American Dynasties about the Kennedys (it’s great). The last episode was about the civil rights struggle and how the Kennedys deployed the National Guard to Alabama to make way for the first Black students to enroll in the University of Alabama. Ironic, considering how the National Guard is…
My buddy Leo Pareja introduced me to the notion that if you aren’t paying for a product, you ARE the product. In other words, when you use a “free” service online or otherwise, your information is most likely where the company is making their money. This became painfully clear earlier in the week when it…
Ramiro Gomez, an artist and the teenage child of Mexican immigrants, is the subject of a short documentary produced for the Atlantic’s American Dreams series. Gomez paints murals of domestic laborers, like his parents, in and around Beverly Hills and other affluent neighborhoods in Los Angeles. Gomez says that people see the beauty of palatial homes and…
Daniel Lubetzky is the founder of Kind, LLC and his company recently sold a stake to the global candy firm Mars, Inc. In 2003, unhappy with unhealthy or unappetizing snacking choices, and concerned with the rising obesity and diabetes epidemic in America, Daniel launched KIND Snacks with the value proposition to “do the kind thing…
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, the co-owner of…
The rumor this week in the mortgage market was that the mega-retailer Amazon had hired a mortgage executive to lead the company’s new venture into mortgage banking. Amazon knows more about consumers than any other company and they are experts in streamlining processes. One would have to believe that if Amazon wants to be in…
This year March Madness feels less fun for those of us who closely follow college basketball. The FBI investigations, the drama with UCLA in China, and the ongoing debate about whether college players should get paid has taken some of the fun out of the season. The issues are not mutually exclusive, rather they are…
This week schools across America staged walkouts to protest gun violence. As with everything these days, people and the media began drawing political lines. Most people support the right of students to express their anger over the proliferation of gun violence in schools. However, others criticized the walkout as nothing more than insubordination and poor…
I finally got to see the musical, Hamilton, when it toured through San Diego in January. I went in knowing Hamilton is not an ordinary Broadway show. With my expectations high, it still managed to be even better than I imagined. Hamilton is nothing less than a remarkable achievement of creative genius. Lin-Manuel Miranda, the youthful composer who…
A couple of years ago, I wrote a five-part blog named the “Nuevo Latinos.” The blog described a new generation of Latinos who were proud of their heritage but viewed themselves as part of the mainstream rather than some outlier faction of America. Most of these Latinos were U.S. born, but not all of them,…
I saw the movie I, Tonya last week with my wife. It seems others agree that this movie about figure skater Tonya Harding was entertaining and well done. The Harding/Kerrigan drama was reality TV before reality TV was a thing. Harding and Nancy Kerrigan were skating rivals training for the 1994 Olympics when an assailant, hired by…
Javier Palomarez, the embattled CEO of the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce announced his resignation last week. Palomarez has been the subject of an investigation regarding allegations related to finances and sexual harassment. In a statement, Palomarez claimed that he was completely vindicated of those allegations, but nonetheless felt it was time for him…
I think it is fair to say that there is a degree of confusion associated with the #metoo movement. While the egregious behavior of people like Harvey Weinstein and Kevin Spacey is clear and definitive, what is less clear is where are all of the lines are inside a society that is moving toward a…
In about 100 stump speeches, I have explained how the last housing crisis inspired me to create the Hispanic Wealth Project and the NAHREP 10. I witnessed first-hand the loss of businesses and homes from hundreds of friends and colleagues. It was a devastating time for many of us. In my speech, I discuss coming to…
A constitutional crisis occurs either when the constitution does not provide a clear answer for a specific situation, or when a government official or branch of the government willfully defies adherence to the constitution. A constitutional crisis is a big deal, and can sometimes result in impeachment, civil war or collapse of the government itself.…
