Season’s Greetings!

Season’s Greetings!

As we wrap up this year and gear up for 2018 – our 30th Anniversary as an organization, we look back at the impact Prospanica has had and want to thank you for being part of our story. We hope we have delivered on your expectations and look forward to what we will accomplish moving forward.

In January, we will have 3M’s Judith Garcia Galiano assume her role as the new Chair of Prospanica’s National Board of Directors, and reinforce the impact that Latinas have had in the growth of the organization. If we take a close look at this past year’s conference’s guide, we can’t help but notice that over 30 of our 46 professional and university chapter presidents are women. I’m very proud that Prospanica is an organization that promotes inclusiveness. Female and male members bring a wide variety of experiences from academia, the corporate sector and the business world and very unique perspectives from a gender standpoint. It helps us make sound decisions that improve the quality of our member experience and provide a safe space where everyone has a voice.

Prospanica’s Hispanic women leaders are part of an emerging trend seen nationally where Latinas are making their mark in key arenas. Therefore, I wanted to highlight the latest statistics that demonstrate how Latinas, specifically, are a driving force of the United States’ economic and social transformation into a multicultural economy through education and entrepreneurship.

Education:

• According to a 2017 Nielsen Report, education rates among Hispanic women are on a rise:
  • 41 percent of Hispanic women have completed at least some college, and 74 percent of recent high school graduates are enrolled in college (vs. 72 percent of non-Hispanic females)
  • Overall, education levels are increasing with each generation of Hispanic women. Of Hispanic women age 50 and older, only 13 percent have a bachelor’s degree or higher, while 18 percent of Latinas ages 35 to 49, and 19 percent of those ages 25 to 34, have achieved one.
  • 52 percent of Latina women agree that their goal is to make it to the top of their profession, and 67 percent agree they would continue working even if they won the lottery.
• According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Latinas surpass their male counterparts, with 20 percent earning a bachelor’s degree or higher by age 29, versus Hispanic men at 14.1 percent.

Entrepreneurship:

• According to Nielsen, entrepreneurship rates among Hispanic women are also on a rise:
  • Latina majority-owned firms make up 44 percent of all Hispanic-owned firms, and 15 percent of all female-owned firms
  • Sales of Hispanic female majority-owned firms grew 41 percent from 2005 to 2015 – to a total of $78.7 billion. In contrast, sales of all female majority-owned U.S. firms grew by 19 percent.
• The National Women’s Business Council also recently completed a study on Hispanic Women Entrepreneurship in September 2017, reporting the following findings:
  • It was estimated that there are 1.9 million Hispanic woman-owned firms in the US in 2016, employing 550,400 workers and generating $97 billions in revenues.
  • The number of Latina entrepreneurs grew at a faster rate than any other group - 137 percent between 2007 and 2016.
  • New Latina-owned businesses are driven by “necessity entrepreneurship” or the practice of starting businesses as a way to generate or supplement income rather than to exploit a market opportunity.
  • 34 percent of Hispanic women entrepreneurs report needing no capital to start their businesses.
    A variety of factors may explain the limited use of external financing among Hispanic women, including: insufficient family resources, being rejected after applying for a loan or not perceiving a need for financing, among others.
  • In 2012, Latina women-owned employer firms paid their employees $13.2 million, a $3.8 million or 41.4 percent increase since 2007.
• The last Census reports that while the number of white women-owned businesses has increased 10.1 percent since 2007, the number of companies owned by Latinas has increased an impressive 87.5 percent, while Asians at 44.3 and African-Americans by 67.5 percent; all significantly outpacing businesses owned by men with a growth of less than 10 percent.
• American Express OPEN found that from 1997 to 2015, the number of firms owned by Latinas grew by 224 percent.

Prospanica has a strong presence of extraordinary Latinas in its midst who are active participants in how we outline the organization’s roadmap to success for the new generation of leaders we are cultivating. Their business acumen impacts far many more lives than what meets the eye, and we are ready to follow their lead.

¡Felicidades!