As I sit here preparing to put my thoughts onto the virtual page, I am hit by the realization that it has been a few months since I wrote anything here.
Then again, that was by design.
I needed to take some time for myself, to pay attention to my health, and that meant taking a step back from all social media and blogging.
It had a tremendously positive effect and I recommend taking breaks to everyone.
But now, I’m back and ready to rock this thing called blogging.
My inspo came from the fact that a dear friend invited me to speak at the Georgia Latino Caucus. I was honored that he thought my incessant banter about Latino Buying Power was important enough to share with his community.
Granted, I always think this data is suuuuuper important and interesting, but I’m also a geek who spends her days between calls and presentations, looking at and analyzing data.
This particular data is something I am truly passionate about, because it dispels a lot of the negative rhetoric in the media that is shared about Hispanics.
I know it’s an election year, so everyone is talking nonstop about the border crisis and immigration issues.
And yes, these are very important issues that affect our country and our lives.
The constant media attention leads to a lot of animosity from every side.
On the non-Latino side, people are frustrated and suspicious and on the Latino side, there is frustration that the only portrayal of us is always negative and conflated with the border crisis.
The truth about the Latino community is that we are an economic powerhouse to the tune of $3.2 Trillion, but that isn’t even known by most Latinos.
I have been talking about this for FIVE years now and I am still shocked at how few people know this.
And I am not the only one who is on a mission to share this information far and wide.
There are many amazing Latino leaders and organizations who are also working to spread awareness about Latino economic power.
In fact, many of the stats I share come from these organizations along with market research data.
Here are a few that I follow.
L’ATTITUDE:
Founded in 2018 by international business executive Sol Trujillo and NAHREP Co-Founder & CEO Gary Acosta, L’ATTITUDE was built to announce new initiatives, launch new businesses, discover new stars, and forge collaborations and partnerships. Emilio Estefan and Oscar Munoz have joined L’ATTITUDE as Partners to leverage their business and industry connections and help curate an ever-expanding L’ATTITUDE Event.
HISPANIC STAR
Founded by Claudia Romo Edelman, The Hispanic Star, an offshoot of We Are All Human Foundation, aims to advance US Hispanics as employees, community and consumers. The initiative features events, a gala, children’s books featuring famous Latinos, a book series highlighting Latino changemakers and so much more. I am honored to have been featured in the Hispanic Stars Rising Vol 3.
![Hispanic-Stars-Rising-Volume-3-Book-Hispanic-Star - Danay Escanaverino](https://danay.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Hispanic-Stars-Rising-Volume-3-Book-Hispanic-Star-Danay-Escanaverino.png)
Latino Donor Collaborative
The Latino Donor Collaborative, founded in 2010 by national leaders Sol Trujillo and Henry Cisneros, is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to reshaping the perception of Latinos as part of the American social mainstream. They are self-funded and independent, founded by an accomplished group of Latino national leaders who generously donate their time to promote friendly, high-level dialogue, with the goal of finding the best ways to grow revenue and market share by targeting and serving Latino audiences.
This is achieved through a non-partisan agenda that includes outreach to influential people in media, advertising, politics, corporate America, and civil society by confronting stereotypes with data that bring understanding and appreciation of the actual role Latinos play in society, politics, and commerce. The Board is passionate about empowering every Latino to be the best they can be, knowing that by doing so, they create a more prosperous, united, and powerful United States of America.
There are many other organizations and platforms that are helping to bring this data into the mainstream, but these three are my go-to organizations for data, resources and community.