Moneda Moves (166): Latinas In the New Mainstream Economy & L'ATTITUDE
I can’t think of a better time than Latina Equal Pay Day to bring this kind of newsletter where we cover not only the stats behind Latinos as the new mainstream economy, but the importance of Latinas in this cohort. It just so happens that last week we spent a few days on the ground at L’ATTITUDE, the event highlighting Latinos as today’s driving economic force, soaking up takeaways to bring back for our readers here. More on that in just a few.
This year, LEPD happens today - October 5 - drawing attention to the fact that Latinas continue to face the pay gap that is, on average, a mere 52 cents to every dollar paid to white, non-Hispanic men. (This is for all earners: full time and part-time.) In recent years, the date has spotlit the day that aligns with Census data, noting the day that represents how much time Latinas would need to “catch up” to make what white men made the year before. This year, the date is highlighted earlier to purposely bring attention to the date during Hispanic Heritage Month.
But as Monica Ramirez, the founder and CEO of Justice for Migrant Women, told MSNBC: “The reality is that Latinas are not catching up.” And as grim as that sounds, it means we have work to do, mi gente. Among the changes that need to happen:
Pay assessments in the workplace: Ensuring equitable pay, especially in large companies is necessary, but that is not the norm. It would be indeed revolutionary for more companies to conduct pay assessments (case in point: a practice Salesforce has taken on and spoken publicly about) to ensure pay fairness across race, ethnicity and gender.
Pay transparency today: In the same vein, as the gig economy experiences an uptick in the United States post-pandemic, note all the benefits that don’t typically come with being an independent worker: insurance and curated retirement plans, for example. It becomes even more imperative for gig workers and freelancers to be fairly paid. This is why pay transparency matters on this level, as much as it does for full time jobs.
Executive sponsorship: Hispanic and Latina women make up less than 2% of senior executives in the nation’s largest companies. With Latinas comprising the second largest ethnic group of women workers, this tells us two things which can be achieved with more vigorous executive sponsorship:
1) Latinas need to be in more positions of power today.
2) Latinas are not making it up the ranks, achieving their earning potential as they should.
Assessment of support for child bearers and caretakers: This kind of assessment is perhaps among the most complex, but especially after global crises like the pandemic, perhaps one of the most urgent to address: The hard cost that is associated with bearing and taking care for children. It’s a supremely important and culturally-relevant role, but it continues to be undervalued and under-assessed for the real costs it has, especially to women.
These are not easy issues to address, but when companies and systems get serious about closing the wage gap experienced by our Latina community, it means getting real about putting plans in place to address these very issues to reinforce the gap.
With that, onto the rest of our newsletter highlighting the power that we stand to tap into in our Latino cohort and takeaways from our time at L’ATTITUDE.
Con poder,
Lyanne
Headlines to put your radar. This week, we’re bringing you takeaways L’ATTITUDE.
Two years ago, I started attending and moderating at L’ATTITUDE, a conference positioning Latinos as the new mainstream economy. Given its mission to further share information about our cohort’s economic power and the innovative drive in the space, the collaboration was a significant one for a brand like Moneda Moves, where our aim is to highlight stories of Latinos and our contributions to the American economy.
Further, the leadership of former Nasdaq colleague Laura Moreno Lucas at the fund dedicated to investing in Latino entrepreneurs solidified the decision for us to be a part. This year, the conference moved across the country from San Diego to Miami, where we saw the event expand into covering money across more groups, and increased sectors from AI and cybersecurity to media and sports.
Here’s a few takeaways from the week:
U.S. Latinos are generating $3.2 trillion in GDP overall, placing our economy as the fifth largest in the world. This means that the Latino economy is driving surpasses that of India, France and the United Kingdom. These stats may sound familiar and that’s because they have been steadily growing numbers, as reported by the Latino Donor Collaborative.
Latino-owned businesses are significant contributors to the American economy, accounting for nearly 25% new businesses and contributing $800 billion yearly to the American economy.
The Small Business Administration reported that SBA-backed loans going to Latino or Hispanic-owned businesses have increased more than 1.5x to address gaps in access to loans in the last few years. From 2017-2023, this marked an increase from 8 to 12 percent in share of SBA-backed loans. These are numbers to double click into, and we’ll be doing further reporting on them.
Latinos are engaged in creating companies in tech industry. Nearly 20% of Latino owned businesses develop and sell a technology or software product compared to 14% white-owned businesses.
Homeownership in this cohort is on the rise. Just last year, the Latino homeownership rate increased by 48.6%, up from 45.6% in 2015. This is a growth pattern observed over the last seven years. I covered Latino and homeownership trends earlier this year for Hispanic Executive.
While Latinos make nearly 20% of the US population, they make less than six percent of annual total TV share on screen, emphasizing the need for more representation in media.
In 2022, Black and Latino founders received only 1 percent and 1.5 percent respectively of total US venture capital (VC) funding, per McKinsey. With venture funding having decreased overall, fund managers express that this is a time for companies to be more mindful of how they raise and spend.
The issue in lack of funding for Black and Latino founders ladders up to the investment partners. In 2022, Latinas represented only two percent of investment partners (an increase from one percent in 2018 and 2020). This prompts to discussion and need for more diverse investment partners.
While at the conference, we also led a few panels Match Up, which highlights entrepreneurs and investors in the ecosystem. One panel highlighted four powerhouse Latinas leading in venture capital and the other with leaders in the investment space discussing market trends and the state of DEI in the space given recent events like the lawsuit against Fearless Fund. More on that below:
In our panel about The Venture Capital Landscape, we drove home the diverse backgrounds of our panelists running funds and their recommendations for founders raising in today’s environment:
⚡Cristina Apple Georgoulakis' pathway from small-business owner, to an executive coach, and co-founder to Partner at Seven Seven Six 7️⃣7️⃣6️⃣.
⚡How Senofer Mendoza began her journey in VC with a $10K check and today doubles down on diversity and focusing on fintech, AI and cybersecurity at Mendoza Ventures.
⚡Rachel ten Brink's journey across leading in corporate to raising $29M for Scentbird, which she founded to now GP at Red Bike Capital.
⚡Samara Mejia Hernandez and how she's leveraged her positioning in Chicago and the midwest as she entered VC and has growing Chingona Ventures.
In our panel about Investor Insights, we spoke about market trends and notably how the shift in DEI from 2020 to today is impacting the investment landscape.
⚡ Global venture funding in 2022 reached $445 billion — marking a 35% decline year over year from 2021. We discussed who was most affected.
⚡ The importance of tracking racial equity commitments from 2020 to today.
⚡ How the lawsuit against Fearless Fund is an attack on DEI and how this could impact the investing landscape.
Thank you for joining us! Until next time, catch us here on Moneda Moves.