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.
Latinos are the youngest demographic in America, with the highest workforce participation rate. We are young and we are not afraid of hard work. Our dedication to God, family, and country is of the highest level. We contribute a lot to this country, but I’m not afraid to say, we are still vastly underachieving as a community.
I think most Latinos would agree that at our core, we are a generous people. If a member of our family is in need, Latinos as a rule, won’t hesitate to help financially. Family is central to Hispanic culture: our generosity has few limits. Maybe that explains why when it comes to making political donations and writing checks in support of actual philanthropic activities, Latinos come up short….When I interviewed Barack Obama last year at NAHREP at L’ATTITUDE, I pressed him about politicians not prioritizing issues that are important to Latino voters, he politely pushed back by saying…
We hear frequently how Latinos are not a monolithic community. In other words, we are not all the same. We come from different countries, have a variety of political views, and even eat different foods. I get all of that, but I also think focusing constantly on our differences versus our similarities undermines our political and economic power as a community...