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.
“Boomerang” was a different kind of film. It was a movie about friendship, loyalty, and romance set in NYC at a medium-sized Black-led company that sold beauty products. Boomerang had an all-black cast and a plot that had nothing to do with being Black. While that was unheard of at the time, Murphy was such a big star that it didn’t seem like a big deal.
About a year ago, I was convinced by some of my closest friends that I should do a podcast. Today it seems like everyone has a podcast, and frankly, 99% of them aren’t very good. I wasn’t sure I could do much better, but I realized I do have some ideas that some people have found interesting in the past.
The decision to invite President Barack Obama to the NAHREP Policy Conference last Spring was a decision I made with the NAHREP National Board. Anytime we have a political figure of that stature at one of our events, we know it will stimulate a lot of buzz among our members and stakeholders.