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 Colorado Rockies, and Oscar Munoz, the CEO of United Airlines. It is inspiring to be in a room with many of them. This month, the LDC launched a campaign in The Wall Street Journal where they purchased four full-page advertisements touting data about the impact of Latinos in the US economy. One of the ads was titled “Guess who’s going to be funding your social security checks.” The global marketing firm Y&R prepared the ads, and the data came from the federal government and think tanks. To date, the LDC has spent most of its time educating media executives about the Hispanic market, but is beginning to expand its efforts to the general market. The WSJ ads can be seen here.
Next week, I will be speaking at a Hispanic Leadership Summit at the United Nations. I was asked to speak on the topic of Unity. The following is a preview of my speech.
The image of Latinos is not just a nice thought; it affects everything from business opportunities and access to capital to how our children are treated at school. Latinos are among the hardest workers and most entrepreneurial of any group in America. However, negativity has dominated the narrative about Latinos for far too long. This one is on us.
We currently have 11 million unfilled jobs in America. Ending illegal immigration will either dramatically increase that number and have massive disruption to our economy, or we will have to...