News (Noticias) Tagged ‘outreach’

I had the opportunity to see the beginning of Camp Obama Colorado, a Latino community leadership training held in Denver and I have to say that I was impressed.

160 people had registered and although I don’t know the final count of those actually attending the house was essentially packed. They were there from various parts of Colorado from all age groups to partake in what Obama’s Latino team calls “helping local Latino leaders empower themselves with the skills to mobilize voters in their Colorado communities.”

Now what impressed me was that this was actually physical action backed by Obama’s money to work on a grassroots approach. Throughout my three years of covering Hispanic & Latino news, I have heard and seen a lot of lip service and little action from a variety of sources. Similar sentiments have been shared with me many times by fellow Hispanos. So this approach literally made me smile.

In case you don’t know Obama has pledged $20 million to Latino outreach. This is more than any party has ever earmarked to target our growing powerful group and just the start of things to come in. Instead on simply purchasing ads and throwing them up on Spanish-Language media some of that money is going to this project that has already been held in 8 states. This runs counter to the stereotype of today’s marketing approach to our diverse community. This is a brilliant stroke if you ask me and fits into the team’s overall goal of registering as many Latinos as possible. After all, advertising on a national Spanish news TV program would reach only 39% of Hispanic voter and although this is from a 2004 Pew Hispanic study it still reflects today’s basic Hispanic language demographics.

Congrats to Temo Figueroa and his team for this innovative approach on a national level and to Barack Obama for supporting them.

In celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month, which begins on September 15, Payless ShoeSource(R) has launched the Payless Inspiring Possibilities Program and will join together with its shoppers to raise money to support the future of Hispanic youth.

Through the new program, Payless will sell a limited-edition Trilogy necklace for only $4 in more than 650 stores nationwide and Payless.com(R), while supplies last, and will donate 100 percent of the net profits of necklace sales, with a minimum donation of $35,000, to a newly developed scholarship established with the Hispanic Scholarship Fund (HSF). Payless said it expects to distribute a minimum of a dozen $2,500 scholarships through the new HSF program as a result of the new initiative.

The necklace goes on sale September 1. The unique design features a black corded necklace with three hoops featuring inspirational words in English and Spanish: Believe/Creer, Dream/Sonar, and Inspire/Inspirar.

“Youth and education are critical to the future of our nation,” said LuAnn Via, president and CEO of Payless. “Our efforts in September are focused on supporting Hispanic youth with our Payless Inspiring Possibilities program. The unique, limited-edition Trilogy necklace is available for only $4 — a price point accessible to so many. Together, we are truly celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month and benefiting young Hispanics with strong opportunities for higher education and to help them achieve their goals and make their dreams come true.”

Payless is the nation’s largest specialty footwear retailer with the on-going mission to democratize fashion and design in footwear and accessories. Since 2004, Payless has established formal programs to support important causes by selling unique, on-trend items and making them accessible with affordable price points and then partnering with shoppers by donating 100 percent of the net profits from the sales of the item to the cause.

“We are pleased that Payless has taken a leadership role in providing resources and opportunities to support our future leaders,” said Gary Jimenez, Regional Vice President of the Hispanic Scholarship Fund.

“HSF provides the Hispanic community with more college scholarships than any other organization,” said Gaby Alban, Hispanic spokesperson for Payless. “We at Payless are proud and honored to partner with the HSF in supporting their mission to double the rate of U.S. Hispanics earning college degrees.”

For more information on the Trilogy necklace and/or the Payless Inspiring Possibilities program, please visit www.payless.com/hhm .

About Payless
Payless ShoeSource, Inc., a unit of Collective Brands, Inc., is the largest specialty family footwear retailer in the Western Hemisphere and is dedicated to democratizing fashion and design in footwear and accessories and inspiring fun, fashion possibilities for the family at a great value. As of the end of first quarter 2008, the company operated more than 4,500 stores. In addition, customers can buy shoes over the Internet through Payless.com(R) at www.payless.com .

Collective Brands, Inc. (NYSE: PSS) is a leader in bringing compelling lifestyle, fashion and performance brands for footwear and related accessories to consumers worldwide. The company operates three strategic units covering a powerful brand portfolio, as well as multiple price points and selling channels including retail, wholesale, ecommerce and licensing. Collective Brands, Inc. includes Payless ShoeSource, focused on democratizing fashion and design in footwear and accessories through its more than 4,500-store retail chain, with its brands American Eagle(TM), Airwalk(R), Dexter(R), Champion(R) and designer collections Abaeté for Payless, Lela Rose for Payless and alice + olivia for Payless, among others; Stride Rite, focused on lifestyle and athletic branded footwear and high-quality children’s footwear sold primarily through wholesaling, with its brands including Stride Rite(R), Keds(R), Sperry Top-Sider(R), Robeez(R), and Saucony(R), among others; and Collective Licensing International, the brand development, management and global licensing unit, with such youth lifestyle brands as Airwalk(R), Vision Street Wear(R), Lamar(R), Sims(R), LTD(R), genetic(R), Dukes(TM), Rage(R), Ultra-Wheels(R), and Skate Attack(R). Information about, and links for shopping on, each of the Collective Brand’s units can be found at www.collectivebrands.com .

About HSF
Founded in 1975 as a not-for-profit, the Hispanic Scholarship Fund (HSF) is the nation’s preeminent Latino scholarship organization, providing the Latino community more college scholarships and educational outreach support than any other organization in the country. During the 2007-2008 academic year, HSF awarded almost 4,100 scholarships exceeding $26.7 million. In its 33-year history, HSF has awarded in excess of 86,000 scholarships, worth more than $247 million, to Latinos attending nearly 2,000 colleges and universities in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands. For more information about HSF, please visit: www.hsf.net . “

McDonald’s announced today it is working with the Hispanic Scholarship Fund (HSF) for the second consecutive year to conduct a series of workshops designed to help encourage greater Hispanic college enrollment. The free workshops will provide parents and students with extensive information regarding the college application process, including financial aid and how to apply for scholarships.

To view the Multimedia News Release, go to: www.prnewswire.com/mnr/mcdonalds/34751/

“We understand how challenging the college application process can be and we want students and parents to know we are here to help,” said Cristina Vilella, Director of Marketing, McDonald’s USA. “These workshops offer the necessary tools and information needed to make that college dream a reality, and it is also a great way for students and their parents to become aware of all the available resources out there for them, such as the RMHC(R)/HACER(R) Scholarship Program that McDonald’s created and supports.”

The workshop series dates and locations are:
– September 6, 2008: Firebaugh High School, Lynwood, CA
– September 18, 2008: Campbell High School, Smyrna, GA
– September 18, 2008: Gateway High School, Aurora, CO
– October 16, 2008: Phoenix Union High School District, Phoenix, AZ
– October 18, 2008: New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, NJ
– October 29, 2008: Arsenal Technical High School, Indianapolis, IN
– November 8, 2008: Valencia Community West Campus, Orlando, FL
– November 15, 2008: National Hispanic University, San Jose, CA
– November 18, 2008: Ysleta Independent School District, El Paso, TX
– November 22, 2008: Benito Juarez High School, Chicago, IL
– November TBD: TBD, Boston, MA

“Many of these children will be the first in their families to go to college,” said Frank D. Alvarez, HSF President & CEO. “Our goal is to provide parents and students with the essential tools to help guide them through the college admission process.”
The workshop will introduce students and parents to scholarship programs, such as RMHC/HACER, a program of Ronald McDonald House Charities(R) and its local U.S. chapters. Launched in 1985, RMHC/HACER is one of the largest educational scholarship programs in the country, having provided more than $17.9 million in scholarships to nearly 13,000 students since its inception. In the latest expansion of the program, four RMHC/HACER national scholarships of $100,000 each were awarded to deserving high school graduates this year.
More information regarding RMHC/HACER and the Steps for Success College Workshops(TM) can be found at www.MeEncanta.com.

About McDonald’s
McDonald’s USA, LLC, is the leading foodservice provider in the United States serving a variety of wholesome foods made from quality ingredients to millions of customers every day. More than 80 percent of McDonald’s 13,700 U.S. restaurants are independently owned and operated by local franchisees. For more information about McDonald’s visit www.mcdonalds.com.

About RMHC
Ronald McDonald House Charities(R), a non-profit, 501 (c)(3) corporation, creates, finds and supports programs that directly improve the health and well being of children. Through its three core programs, Ronald McDonald House(R), Ronald McDonald Family Room(R), and Ronald McDonald Care Mobile(R) program, RMHC is making a global impact on the most pressing problems facing children today. RMHC and its network of local U.S. Chapters also provide scholarships for high school seniors who want to continue their education. For more information about Ronald McDonald House Charities visit www.rmhc.org.

About Hispanic Scholarship Fund
Founded in 1975 as a not-for-profit, the Hispanic Scholarship Fund (HSF) is the nation’s preeminent Latino scholarship organization, providing the Latino community more college scholarships and educational outreach support than any other organization in the country. During the 2006-2007 academic year, HSF awarded nearly 4,200 scholarships exceeding $26.5 million. In its 32-year history, HSF has awarded in excess of 82,000 scholarships worth more than $221 million to Latinos attending nearly 2,000 colleges and universities in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands. For more information about HSF, please visit: www.hsf.net. “

Saturday morning, as part of an outreach effort to the local Latino community, they were at Sparrow Run Park in Bear’s Sparrow Run neighborhood for a first-ever bilingual public safety day.

The purpose of the event, sponsored by New Castle County police and the Latin American Community Center, is to improve relations between police and the local Latino community.”*

The job of Juan Hernandez is to win support for John McCain, particularly Latino votes. So it may seem odd that the campaign doesn’t want its national director of Hispanic outreach to get any press. Repeated NEWSWEEK requests to interview Hernandez have been rebuffed or ignored. When a reporter suggested talking to Hernandez at a convention of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials, where Hernandez was slated to appear June 28, his name was suddenly removed from the list of scheduled speakers. A NALEO spokesman, Eric Wagner, says someone from the McCain campaign called and asked to replace him, but didn’t offer an explanation. (A McCain aide, who refused to be quoted discussing internal campaign strategy, later told NEWSWEEK that the campaign had never signed off on Hernandez as a speaker.)”*

Like eager but awkward suitors, Barack Obama and John McCain are working hard and sometimes fumbling in their efforts to court Hispanic voters who could swing November’s presidential election.

For the African-American Obama and white Anglo McCain, the problem is less one of language than of trying to understand a group whose own diversity can make it a mystery to others. It’s not a simple matter of saying, “Take me to your leaders.” “*

Catholic Relief Services (CRS), the official international humanitarian agency of the U.S. Catholic community, today announced the launch of its new initiative designed to reach out and engage U.S. Hispanics in a tangible way through donations, public policy advocacy and global solidarity. The initiative will be spearheaded by the newly unveiled CRS Spanish-language website ( www.crsespanol.org ) developed specifically to expand the agency’s outreach and enable it to more effectively interact with U.S. Hispanics. As part of this comprehensive strategy to engage U.S. Hispanics, CRS will also roll out Spanish-language public service announcements for TV, radio and internet sites across the country, direct mail campaigns, and print ads. Additionally, CRS has hired internal marketing and public relations advisors specifically tasked with improving the agency’s communications efforts to U.S. Hispanics. “*

When it comes to immigration, a heavy emphasis in the village has been placed on day laborers - a group of mainly Hispanic men seeking jobs such as contract and landscaping work. But outreach groups helping Hispanic immigrants assimilate to a new way of life have found themselves placing more emphasis in recent years on women.

“Generally, it used to be just the men went to work and the women stayed home,” said Harrison resident Monica Guzman. “But we Latinas need to realize that there are plenty of opportunities out there to seek a career if we want to.”"*

Though Obama’s office called the other Congresswomen to invite them to the gathering, sigh, Latina grudges don’t easily go away, especially with just a phone call.

It probably also didn’t help that this week the Obama campaign announced they had hired Clinton’s former campaign manager, Patti Solis Doyle, as Chief of Staff for the VP candidate. Since Clinton and Solis Doyle haven’t even spoken to one another since Solis Doyle was fired from the campaign, it sends (maybe) the unintentional message that Clinton isn’t in the running for the VP spot which is bound to be a sore point among the Latina leadership waiting for personal outreach from Obama.

On top of his problem outreaching to some Latina congressional leaders, the campaign has been strangely silent with the Latino blogosphere.”*

OSHA and the Café Con Leche Health and Safety Outreach Committee have formed an alliance to facilitate safety and health outreach to Spanish speaking employees in the Wichita area. The alliance will focus on outreach and training for non-English speaking employees and youth with the goal of reducing construction and general industry workplace hazards.”*

Federico Peña (wikipedia), former transportation secretary and Denver mayor, is now leading Barack Obama’s nationwide Latino outreach strategy.

Already Obama’s national campaign co-chairman, Peña is taking on the additional role to help familiarize Latino voters with the Illinois senator. Hillary Clinton, who dropped out of the presidential race earlier this month, received the bulk of Latino support during the primary season. “*

CONTACT:Robert Johnston, (202) 955-9450 ext. 313, rjohnston@communicationworks.com

Download full report PDF or this press release as a PDF

Emphasis on Academic Support, Use of Data in Decisionmaking, Revamped Community Outreach
Are Significant Factors in Success with Latino Students, Study Says

WASHINGTON, D.C. (June 18) – As Latino representation in higher education continues to increase
across all states and institution types, Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs)—public or private nonprofit
degree-granting colleges with 25 percent or more Hispanic undergraduate enrollment—provide a valuable
laboratory to study practices that help improve Latino access, retention, and academic success.

A new report by the Washington, D.C.-based higher education policy group, Excelencia in Education,
reveals that it is no accident that some institutions have high Latino enrollments and degree production..
These campuses have worked deliberately to implement broad-scale changes in everything from
improving academic support and community relations to implementing new data systems that strengthen
decisionmaking and enable campus leaders, faculty, and staff to better monitor what is happening with
their Latino student population. This report and the case studies from which it is drawn were supported by
Lumina Foundation for Education.

“What we see across the most successful institutions are comprehensive efforts to improve the quality of
the academic experience and to meet student needs for a rapidly growing, non-traditional, and diverse
Latino population,” said Deborah Santiago, Vice President for Research and Policy for Excelencia in
Education and the author of the report. “The HSIs we examined made reinventing academic support for
Latino students and all students a top priority.”

“What was particularly impressive was how these student-rich and resource-poor institutions have
increased results for Latinos under increasingly tight economic constraints,” noted Sarita Brown,
president of Excelencia in Education. “Leaders of these institutions have made great strides to ensure
success while addressing diverse Latino enrollment patterns and pathways to degree completion. Their
strategies need to be studied more extensively and copied more expansively nationwide.”

The report, Modeling Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs): Campus Practices that Work for Latino
Students, focuses on 12 institutions—six community colleges and six public universities—in three states
that are among the nation’s leaders in Latino enrollment and degree completion. They include:

Emphasis on Academic Support
While institutions are involved in many areas that support their students’ success, the practices of all 12
HSIs emphasized academic support. Particularly powerful were strategies introduced to strengthen
developmental education, cohort support programs, and academic advising, the study says.

All the colleges offer courses that prepare students for college-level work, and some have created free
summer or winter immersion programs to prepare incoming and returning students for placement exams
in English, writing, and mathematics. All of the campuses have also invested considerable resources in
examining student data and designing interventions to strengthen freshmen student performance. For
example, El Camino College offers a First Year Experience program where student persistence and pass
rates were 10 to 30 percent higher for enrolled students than for a comparative group that did not
participate. South Texas College’s Beacon Advisement Program provides a case management approach
to student advising and has seen a fall-to-spring retention rate of 76 percent for students in the program
compared to 69 percent for a comparative group that did not participate.

Bolstering Community Outreach
The colleges studied have developed partnerships with local school districts and businesses to help
Latino students pursue college degrees. In addition, since so many Hispanic students begin their higher
education at a community college, community outreach also includes programs that facilitate transfers
from community college to public universities. One of the strongest models of collaboration between K-12
feeder schools, a community college, and a university partner is that of the El Paso Learning
Collaborative. El Paso Community College and the University of Texas at El Paso are working to align
their curriculum and to ease transitions so that students do not get lost, and for the past decade have
used resources from the National Science Foundation to provide summer programs and tuition support
for students transferring to programs in science, engineering, and mathematics.

Data Use
The institutions recognize the importance of using data to inform their support programs and institutional
decisionmaking. They have established a culture of evidence and have democratized data use, sharing
information on student success broadly with faculty, staff, students, and the community. By building
awareness about the challenges all students (and especially Latino and other minority students) face,
these institutions are able to gain insights from different subsets of their campuses to strengthen
programs and services. For example, CUNY-New York City College of Technology participated in
Building Engagement and Attainment of Minority Students (BEAMS) as a way to collect, disaggregate,
and use data to guide institutional practices and support for their students overall, and their minority
students in particular.

Recommendations for Other Institutions
Excelencia in Education’s observations of the 12 campuses, along with its work exploring institutional
practices and state policy options to bolster Latino student success in several states, has led to the
identification of several guiding practices that may be useful to other institutions experiencing growing
Latino student enrollment and seeking to serve nontraditional students:

• Create a culture of evidence at the institution to encourage the use of disaggregated data to better
  understand how Latino and other students are performing and to guide campus decisions and initiatives.
• Share data on Latino students with faculty, staff, and students at least once a year so that they
  know how students are performing and can become more engaged in institutional efforts.
• Use short-term measures of academic progress to guide improvements in curricula, instruction,
  and support services for Latino students. Using short-term measures of academic progress engages
  faculty in the scholarship of student success and focuses their efforts to improve their own students’
  achievement and their institutions’ capacity to serve students.
• Encourage and support the sharing of disaggregated student data between community colleges
  and baccalaureate-granting institutions to help establish better transfer pathways and to understand
  the barriers and facilitators for Latino college student success.
• Provide a holistic approach to serving Latino students within the institution. Incorporate
  leadership, research, academic programs, support services, and student life programs. Too often these
  programs and services operate independently and may be either duplicative or ineffective in reaching the
  students who need them the most to succeed.
• Partner with other educational organizations in the community to align educational resources.
  Engaging “feeder” high schools, community colleges, public universities, and community-based
  organizations already investing in students can increase Latino student preparation, access, and
  persistence to degree completion. Latino students tend to enroll in colleges in their own community, so
  there is a rich opportunity to align educational services in the K-16 pathway to better support students.
• Seek external sources to develop and test innovative practices while adding proven practices to
  the institutional budget. Many institutions with growing Latino enrollment face limited resources and a
  growing need to improve student achievement. Each of the institutions in this study actively sought and
  received additional federal, state, or private support to finance their student success activities. Once
  practices were developed, implemented, and evaluated, leaders added to their institutions’ budgets the
  ones that proved most successful.
• Apply lessons learned in improving services to Latinos to improve services for all students.
  Institutional practices that demonstrate effectiveness in serving Hispanics are likely to serve other
  students well and can be institutionalized to improve overall student success.
  Later this year, Excelencia in Education will release two more briefs that probe more deeply into HSI
  leadership strategies and success measures at these 12 institutions.
• Excelencia in Education aims to accelerate higher education success for Latino students by providing
  data-driven analysis of the educational status of Latino students, and by promoting education policies and
  institutional practices that support their academic achievement. A 501(c)(3) organization, Excelencia is
  building a network of results-oriented educators and policymakers adding value to their individual efforts
  with the momentum to address the U.S. economy’s need for a highly educated workforce.
• For more information, visit the organization’s Web site, www.EdExcelencia.org.

-The National Trauma Institute, a non-profit grant making organization that funds short-term trauma research, has hired marketing and public relations veteran Teresa Niño to head its Communications and Legislative Affairs efforts.

Niño most recently headed the Marketing Department for the San Antonio Express-News as well as its Community Relations department and the Express-News Charitable Foundation. Prior to that, she headed the Marketing and Business Development department for the commercial business park KellyUSA for eight years, now known as Port San Antonio and was responsible for their international outreach. Niño was a researcher for marketing Guru Lionel Sosa’s book, “The Americano Dream.” In the 90’s, she was an appointee in the Clinton Administration, serving in the Office of Public Affairs for the Health and Human Services department under Secretary Donna E. Shalala; and was Assistant Press Secretary for Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley for the City of Chicago in the 80’s. Niño began her professional career as a television reporter in Chicago, Illinois.

“Teresa’s vast experience and expertise in the field of communications as well as her broad network on the political front will play a critical role as we move forward with our national agenda,” said Sharon Smith, Executive Director of the National Trauma Institute. “We are delighted to have Teresa join our team and are very excited about her vision for our growth.”

The National Trauma Institute’s mission is to fund short-term (3-5 years) trauma-related research that will change and improve current practices and procedures and thereby lower the number of deaths due to trauma. Trauma-related deaths are the number one cause of death for people ages 1-44; and trauma-related injuries occur everyday throughout America and cost our country billions of dollars in treatment and rehabilitation. Many Level 1 Trauma Centers throughout the country have closed due to lack of funds. Time consuming and repetitive surgeries, such as those necessary with traumatic injuries, become too expensive for health plans to cover or for hospitals to get reimbursed. The number of casualties and injuries has increased due to the war and the opportunity to learn and implement best practices in emergency situations needs to be researched and proven. As has been shown with diseases such as AIDS and Cancer, when funds are allocated to research, and practices are changed, the number of deaths is reduced.

Niño serves on various local boards and committees and has received numerous awards for her charitable work and leadership. She is a member of the American Marketing Association (AMA), Public Relations Society of America (PRSA), the National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ) and the San Antonio Association of Hispanic Journalists (SAAHJ). She resides in San Antonio with her husband, Juan A. Sepúlveda, Jr., author of the book, “The Life and Times of Wilie Velasquez: Su Voto es Su Voz,” and their two children, Michael and Victoria.”*

Queens Courier Establishes Outreach To Latin Population With Exclusive Spanish Edition

The Queens Courier, the principle community newspaper for the borough of Queens, New York, is establishing a Spanish language edition. Building on their long established tradition of keeping the residents of Queens educated on their social, moral and community obligations, the Queens Courier has grown from a single weekly newspaper to 11 publications, ranging from tourist oriented publications, like the Key to Queens, to community health related issues (like Healthwise) to businesses publications dedicated to the unique needs of people in Queens.

Founded in 1985 by Victoria Schneps-Yunis, and John Toscano, the Queens Courier grew from the realization that more and more apartment owners were going co-op, owning their apartments and having the same vested stake in their community that homeowners would have. Dedicated to informing the residents of Queens about bond issues, educational and school issues, and shining the light of good journalism on the events of merit in the community, the Queens Courier has expanded from a two person operation to one with more than 50 employees and reporters.

The Courier has always been focused on the needs of the community, and with the changing demographics in Queens, which is now more than 26% and growing, the need to provide Hispanic residents with the same information that the English speaking majority proved to be a clarion call to Schneps-Yunis.

“We have long believed that it is the power of the press, to enact long lasting change, that keeps the sinews of our community strong. We are the lifeline between all of our neighbors, the fabric that their lives interweaves to make a group of neighbors into a community of citizens. Without a Spanish language newspaper, we were not serving a vital and important segment of our readers, until now.”

In addition to listing events common to Queens, the Spanish edition (El Correo de Queens) covers Spanish language events, and gives advertisers looking to reach the Hispanic market an avenue that they’re comfortable with. The aim is to make sure that all the important news reaches everyone who needs to be reached, regardless of the language they read or speak in their homes. El Correo de Queens can be found in all the locations that other editions of the Queens Courier can be found in – ranging from banks, to gymnasiums and pharmacies and supermarkets. With a total circulation of over half a million copies of each issue, the Queens Courier is one of the highest circulation community newspapers in the country.

PRESS CONTACT:
Noah Rosenberg
38-15 Bell Blvd.
Bayside, NY 11361
nrosenberg@queenscourier.com
718-224-5863 ext237″

Wells Fargo & Company  today announced a $100,000 grant to the California Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (CHCC), a quarter of which will be used to help establish the new CHCC Foundation. The Foundation will oversee educational scholarships, chamber leadership training courses and economic development programs.

The grant — announced at the CHCC’s legislative conference in Sacramento — reflects Wells Fargo’s longstanding commitment to the work of the CHCC, and to Latino entrepreneurs nationwide. Since 2000, Wells Fargo has given more than $1 million to the CHCC, the largest regional Hispanic business organization in the nation.

“For the past eight years, Wells Fargo has enjoyed a growing and supportive relationship with the California Hispanic Chamber of Commerce,” said Tim Rios, Wells Fargo senior vice president of Corporate Community Development and national spokesperson for Wells Fargo’s Latino Business Services program. “We’re proud to be the first organization to help the California Hispanic Chamber of Commerce launch the CHCC Foundation. This grant illustrates our strong commitment to the Latino business community.”

“We applaud Wells Fargo’s contribution, and are thankful for their continued commitment to this powerful emerging market,” said CHCC President & CEO, Joel Ayala. “We’re especially thankful for the contribution to the Foundation, which will support the ongoing leadership, education, and economic development efforts of the Chamber and the more than 600,000 Hispanic-owned businesses in California.”

Since 2000, Wells Fargo, through its Latino Business Services program, has joined with the CHCC to honor and support Latino business owners. Established in 1997, Latino Business Services uses outreach and education to help Latino business owners increase their access to capital and other financial services. Since the program’s inception, Wells Fargo has loaned more than $4.7 billion to thousands of Latino business owners nationwide and has a goal to lend $5 billion by 2010.

For more information about Wells Fargo’s Latino Business Services, visit

According to Dr. Federico Subervi, author of The Mass Media and Latino Politics, a book that examines Hispanic-related media content and campaign strategies over the past twenty years, “Spanish-language media does a better job than mainstream media, but the coverage is still not as substantive as it should be, particularly with regard to mobilizing Hispanics to become more involved.” One problem, he says, is that that the mainstream media focuses more on the spectacle of a politician campaigning in Hispanic areas—and on the fiestas and cultural notes that they hit—than on the pressing issues that face Hispanics and are at stake in their political choices. Some will remember the not-prescient photo of Senator Clinton drinking Presidente Beer in Puerto Rico while campaigning there—an example of the colorful, but vacuous, treatment of Hispanic political outreach that is typical of the mainstream media, according to Dr. Subervi.”*

By now for those interested and who care, have read all the ana-lysts reports of what went wrong with the Hillary Clinton campaign for Presidency. 16 months ago it was considered a foregone conclusion that Hillary Clinton would be the Democratic Party’s candidate for President, Barack Obama was a mere oddity at the time, so to see her campaign fail offers us an opportunity to dissect what went wrong.

From all the pundits, political media experts, and commentaries the overwhelming theory was that Hillary was not able to break away from her ties to the old guard/insider image and did not represent a true chance for change. Coupled with this, from the very outset, the Hillary campaign was running as if it was a campaign focused on the November election outreaching to middle America. This was obvious in her wishy-washy stance on the war in Iraq, where she did not embrace a troop pullout and stated that the troops need to stay for the sake of stability, after this the anti-war core of the Democratic Party started looking around for a champion to carry their cause.”*

Twenty high school students living on the United States side of the border with Mexico will attend the first ever University of Arizona CampCIENCIAS, being held Monday through Friday next week.

The camp, which translates to Camp Science, was conceived of and planned by three Latina program coordinators working at the UA’s U.S. Mexico Binational Center and Superfund Basic Research Program, part of the UA College of Pharmacy.

Mónica Ramirez, Denise Moreno and Rocio Estrella worked with the UA Office of Early Academic Outreach to publicize the camp and recruit students from Arizona border cities to apply for the free camp.”*

The Sacramento Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (SHCC) is celebrating the Senate’s recent Budget Resolution that supports $101 million in additional funding for small business programs. Under the leadership of John Kerry (D-Mass) and Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine), the resolution was signed last week and provides increased funding for Small Business Development Centers, Women’s Business Centers, microloans, contracting assistance, veteran’s outreach programs, technical assistance programs and increased loan oversight while reducing oversight fees paid by lenders.

“We couldn’t be happier with the Senate’s decision to finally increase funds for small businesses nationwide,” said Diana Borroel, President/CEO of the SHCC. “Many businesses in the Sacramento region are being affected by the slow economy and need even more access to training, capital and procurement opportunities that the SHCC helps to provide. With this new budget resolution, we’ll likely be able to expand our support even more for local entrepreneurs.”

The SHCC offers their members services such as a microloan program, the Sacramento Business Service Center, weekly workshops with procurement opportunities, women focused business education and trainings such as the SCORE program.

The budget blueprint increases funding for:

• Small Business Development Centers to $105 million
• SCORE Program to $7 million
• Microloan funding to $3.6 million and Microloan Technical

Assistance to $20 million. Last year, small businesses received more than $31 million in microloans, proportionally helping more women and minorities than other programs.

Since 1972, The Sacramento Hispanic Chamber of Commerce has worked tirelessly to promote business, industry, commerce and culture within the Sacramento community for all minority groups. With nearly 700 members, the Chamber seeks to increase better understanding between Spanish-speaking businesses and the community through networking events, advocacy efforts and educational trainings. For more information on the SHCC, please visit

Univision Communications Inc. announced today the latest phase of the Company’s campaign to raise awareness about the upcoming transition to digital television (DTV) entitled “Escuadrón Digital” (Digital Squad), a grassroots and on-air initiative using a one-on-one approach to ensure viewers are informed and prepared for the DTV transition in February 2009. The company announced the new phase following the National Association of Broadcasters Education Foundation event in Washington, D.C. at which it received the Service to America President’s Special Award for its multi-media digital transition awareness campaign.

“Escuadrón Digital” will reach out directly to communities across the country through local events, DTV Town Hall meetings and by deploying street teams that visit community and senior centers and select homes. The “Escuadrones” (Squads) will help viewers determine if television sets are analog or digital, help with coupon applications, as well as assist with the purchase and installation of converter boxes.

“Univision is the champion of Hispanic America. In this role we recognize that it is key to inform and motivate our viewers to take action on DTV as early as possible and ensure a smooth transition,” said Cesar Conde, executive vice president and chief strategy officer, Univision Communications Inc. “‘Escuadrón Digital’ builds on an extremely successful campaign to date, leverages our understanding and connection to our viewers and adds a personal approach to our awareness efforts.”

As part of the “Escuadrón Digital” effort, Univision is creating a national group that features Carlos Calderón, host of Galavisión’s “Acceso Máximo” (All Access), as the squad captain and an analog-to-digital ‘geek’ who will give viewers a digital analysis of their homes; Tony Dandrades, from Univision’s popular newsmagazine show “Primer Impacto” (First Impact), as the converter box tech who will demonstrate how to install converter boxes; digi diva Lilia Rodriguez Luciano from TeleFutura’s “Escandalo TV” (ShowBiz TV), who will help a selected viewer purchase an appropriate converter box; and the beloved Martica from “El Gordo y La Flaca” (The Scoop and the Skinny) who will help the squad get ready for their “missions” with her delicious coffee. These efforts will be replicated at the local level by the Univision Television Group.

The footage from the squad’s missions and assignments will premiere in July 2008 as part of “TV Digital…Estas Preparado?” (Digital TV…Are you ready?), a Univision Network special. Some of the squad’s assignments will also be featured in 30-second vignettes that will air on the network through February 2009. The “Escuadrón Digital” initiative also includes in-program education segments in national shows, national radio public service announcements (PSA’s) and a dedicated microsite on Univision.com (Uniclave: TV Digital) with comprehensive information and links to the coupon application program.

Univision launched the first and most aggressive, multi-media digital transition awareness campaign in October 2007. Since the campaign’s launch, Univision has aired DTV specials, covered the issue through local and national news and public affairs programs and has hosted interactive events across the nation to facilitate the DTV transition process for Hispanics. Additionally, Univision worked with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) on educational efforts which include a toll-free information hotline with Spanish-language capability to handle questions regarding the DTV conversion. In addition, the company has conducted numerous town hall meetings and events in cities including Chicago, San Francisco, Fresno and Dallas, reaching thousands of individuals.

“We are very grateful for the recognition from the National Association of Broadcasters Education Foundation and for the partnership with NAB, NTIA and the FCC,” added Conde. “At Univision we remain strongly committed to ensuring that every household in the country is informed and prepared for the DTV transition.”

The switch from analog TV to DTV began in 1996, when the U.S. Congress authorized the assignment of an additional broadcast channel to each TV broadcaster in order to introduce DTV service while simultaneously continuing analog TV broadcasts. In addition to improved picture and sound quality, DTV allows broadcasters to transmit multiple program streams. DTV technology also reduces the amount of spectrum needed nationwide for television broadcasting, freeing up broadcast spectrum for public safety and new wireless services. The FCC requires that all full-power television stations cease analog broadcasting on February 17, 2009.”*

With the help of the city of Longmont, Eco-Cycle is launching an outreach program designed to encourage more recycling in the city’s Latino community.

The large influx of Latinos to the Longmont area over the past 20 years is a major driving force behind the new program, said Dan Benavidez, the compliance and logistics manager of Boulder Imports and a former City Council member.

“The demographics in this region — and all over the country — have changed radically,” he said, noting in particular the large number of Latinos of Mexican origin who live in Longmont.”*