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 Luis Fonsi smash hit, Despacito has dominated airwaves for the better part of 2017. It spent 15 weeks as number one on the Billboard charts, and it was the first YouTube video in history to reach three billion views. The Spanish language song, by every possible metric is not only one of the top songs of…
After losing his epic boxing match against Floyd “Money” Mayweather, Conor McGregor bragged that he was able to turn Mayweather into a Mexican. McGregor has been known to be loose with his lips when it comes to race, but in this case he was paying a compliment to the proud history of Mexican boxers who…
If you are not a supporter of President Trump, odds are you don’t like his Press Secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders. She officially replaced the cantankerous, Sean Spicer last month. As White House Press Secretary, she has the responsibility to share information about the administration and answer questions for the press corps – frequently about controversial…
The Mortgage Collaborative, the top co-op for mortgage companies, hosted its biannual conference in Nashville last week with more than 150 companies attending the event. Last year, the leading topic of discussion was the regulatory environment while this year it was all about technology and online security. Blend, Inc. a developer of consumer facing technology…
A Reuters study on consumer spending indicates that Latino spending for non-essential goods and services is in a sharp decline. A recent surge in deportations is causing Latinos, even those who are U.S. citizens, to curtail their shopping out of fear of deportation or harassment. The CEO of Target, Brian Cornell, says that Latinos are staying home…
1983 is universally considered the best draft year for quarterbacks of all time. Hall of Famers, John Elway, Dan Marino, and Jim Kelly were only three of six quarterbacks drafted in the first round that year. Some experts believe 2017 could rival that year with as many as five QB’s taken in the first round.…
Last Wednesday I had dinner with NAHREP President Leo Pareja and Raul Espinoza from Bay Equity Home Loans at Rick Bayless’ stylish Mexican restaurant, Red O, in La Jolla. Only three months old, Red O is already one of the hottest tickets in San Diego. The Bayless name incites controversy from foodies and fans of…
As I write this blog, my thoughts and prayers are with the family of Heather Heyer and the people of Charlottesville who were victimized by this tragic event. For those of us who wanted to believe that we were living in a “post-racism” era, that notion has been suspended, at least for a while. Racism…
If you’re like me, you’ve probably wondered what previous Presidents honestly think of today’s political environment. More specifically, what does the most recent Republican President think? On September 11th, I’ll get the chance to ask President George W. Bush many of the questions we have been asking ourselves. The former President will headline the NAHREP…
Last week I attended the 10th annual Housing Renaissance in San Diego. The Housing Renaissance is an off-calendar gathering of about 60 CEOs, government officials, thought leaders, advocates and policy wonks. The event is by invitation only and is co-chaired by former HUD Secretary, Henry Cisneros, and Harvard Professor, Nic Retsinas. NAHREP National President, Leo…
If you really love authentic Mexican food and plan to be in San Diego, you have to try Las Cuatro Milpas on 1857 Logan Avenue in Barrio Logan near the Chicano Park area. The beef tacos and chorizo con huevos are the best I have ever had. I love to go there after long road…
Did you know that one of the most bankable film producers in Hollywood is a Mexican-American by the name of Roberto Orcí? Orcí and his frequent collaboration partner, Alex Kurtzman, recognized their love for filmmaking after watching the Indie-classic, Sex, Lies, and Videotape. The two began writing scripts for television and films including the first…
I’m excited to say that my favorite TV show is back with a new season. The first two seasons of Ray Donovan were some of the best television I have ever seen in my life. Jon Voight gave a master class in acting every week. Steven Bauer from Scarface plays Ray’s fixer associate. Seasons three…
Anthony Scaramucci was relieved of his duties only ten days after assuming the role of White House Communications Director. He was literally walked out of the building. This was a shocking development in a week of internal turmoil for the Trump Administration. It seems likely that Scaramucci’s dismissal was a condition of General John F.…
Rumor is that the Trump Justice Department is looking into new legal challenges to affirmative action in the nation’s most selective colleges. This is not new. There have been multiple lawsuits in the last couple of decades that have challenged the practice. Some states, like California, have passed legislation to eliminate affirmative action from the…
I spent the last few days with housing experts and found there is a consensus that the biggest current challenge to homeownership is housing inventory. While most of the attention regarding homeownership opportunity is typically focused on identifying demand solutions, housing supply is the primary barrier today. The housing crisis of 2008 crippled the homebuilding…
Actress Zoë Saldaña (Guardians of the Galaxy) has launched a media company called BeSe. The company will focus on “cultural storytelling” targeting millennial and Gen Z audiences. A lot has been said about the lack of diversity in Hollywood, but I always say people will resist change until not changing affects their livelihood. The emergence of…
I spent the last three weeks watching the best high school basketball players in the country compete in tournaments in SoCal and Las Vegas. I also heard a lot of negative things about the growing influence of AAU basketball. The scuttlebutt is that AAU basketball has replaced high school basketball in terms of its relevance…
To nobody’s surprise, Sean Spicer resigned last week as WH Press Secretary. The move came on the heels of the appointment of Anthony Scaramucci as WH Communications Director. Spicer was known for his combative temperament and knack for making false, and sometimes outrageous, statements to the press corps. Sean Spicer was not a very good…
The more I learn about Mark Zuckerberg, the more I like him. Last Sunday, while I was driving home to San Diego from Los Angeles, I decided to listen to Zuckerberg on Facebook live, filmed in his backyard while he was cooking some BBQ for friends. He was talking about everything from Artificial Intelligence (he…
