I grew up in the 1980’s listening to a lot of New Wave music – I was even a part-time DJ, great job! A favorite group of mine at the time was Missing Persons – a classic New Wave group. One of the band’s songs streamed on my laptop today as I was working, ”Words” – I’m sure you’ve heard it.
It’s funny how a song can stop you in your tracks and get you thinking about what’s going on. The lyrics of Words got me thinking about the numerous issues and problems we all face today. Many are incredibly complex and need answers, quickly. However, it seems today we communicate in sound bites and rhetoric rather than sincere, honest, and respectful discussions. It seems at times everyone is talking but no one is willing to listen. I find this bit of lyrics, and frankly the rest of the song, appropriate for today’s environment:
Something has to happen to change the direction
What little filters through is giving you the wrong impression
It’s a sorry state I say to myself
At a time when many sit stupefied and traumatized by the rhetoric around them, let’s not forget that words can provide powerful answers to those who listen and to those who speak.
Or do you love what you do so much that you’d do it for free?
If you work to earn a living, how would your life change if you loved your work instead?
We’ve all participated in those retreats or workshops on how to be more successful. I remember being part of a workshop that asked the participants to draw a picture of what their job would look like if they were passionate about it.
I felt bad for everyone that drew a picture. I didn’t draw one. I pulled out a picture from my backpack and shared a picture of my family. I already had what I wanted from my job.
My passion is being able to do something that I love from home and spend time with my kids.
I realized then as I realize now - how fortunate that is.
Next month the Center for Hispanic Leadership(CHL) will be hosting its first annual Leadership Summit whose theme will focus on embracing innovation through diversity. I was fortunate to have been invited to participate in the summit which will take place September 18th in Los Angeles. CHL Founder and CEO, Glenn Llopis, was gracious enough to spend some time with me on this edition of the HTM Podcast to discuss his perspectives on leadership, diversity, innovation, and the upcoming summit. If you’re not familiar with his Glenn’s work, I’d encourage you to visit his website as well as the excellent work being done by the Center for Hispanic Leadership.
If you’re interested in participating in the leadership summit, Glenn was gracious enough to offer a discounted registration rate of $195 for HTM readers. You can contact me using my company site www.admentis.com or DM me via Twitter @MigueACorona .
I’ll be live blogging the summit so you can also follow along on Twitter using the #CHLSummit .
This initiative featured five summer interns reprsenting four disciplines. Excellent insights about the summer experiences of four Hispanic interns. Click on the links below to read their respective blogs:
Some organizations that are doing their part this Summer to help develop Hispanic the Hispanic leaders and talent of the future. Watch the video, the list will make a bit more sense. : )
Colleges and Universities
Here is a short list of colleges and universities that are making an effort to attract more Hispanics to their campuses as well as developing Hispanic talent. While there are many more colleges that are increasing their outreach efforts, I think what make these schools unique is their location. Please note where most of these schools are located and what it says about Hispanics and higher education.
Center for Hispanic Leadership (CHL)
If you’re not familiar with CHL, you will be soon. CHL’s mission is to teach Hispanic professionals and corporations how to propel innovation through diversity. I’m honored to be part of their upcoming Summit in Los Angeles.
The Lumina Foundation One of my favorite websites for information. They have one overriding mission: enrolling and graduating more students from college. They’re tremendous advocates of increasing the number of Hispanics in higher education and consistently provide valuable information in this regard.
Excelencia in Education
A powerhouse for information on Hispanics in education, Excelencia in Education provides research, webinars, and conferences all related to the development of the Hispanic workforce and talent.
The Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education
Always a great source for up-to-date articles impacting Hispanics in higher education, they’re celebrating their 25th year. Their existence literally chronicles the advancement of Hispanics in higher education over the last two decades.
The Hispanic Leadership Initiative at Harvard
An excellent program geared at developing the next generation of Latino Leaders. Their program is impressive and students can apply for the 2011 session starting now. Please watch some of the videos on their site – inspiring!
Hat tip to @Eliana_Murillo , a Harvard grad, for reminding me to add this great program to the list!
It’s one thing to argue that Hispanics are behind in educational achievement and quite another not to provide the needed institutional support systems to help them close the gap. Catching up on reading some articles from last week regarding the challenges and issues faced by Hispanic college students entering higher education. This overview article in the the New York Times on what they call the ‘lag’ between Hispanic educational achievement and the policies provided to support their efforts. Some good insights as to the cultural (institutional and social) factors that create challenges for college-bound Hispanic students. Much of the points relate to my post on Friday regarding community colleges.
I’ll be on vacation for next couple weeks but will be doing some “micro-blogging” via Twitter. You can catch me at @MiguelACorona (or follow the Twitter link on the RHS of the page).
I’m thankful for being a father. Like other dads out there, I love my kids and am proud of everything they’ve already accomplished in their young lives. I’ve been very fortunate. Having worked from home for the last 12 years, I’ve had the unique pleasure of raising my kids: being there to watch their first steps, hear their first words, and feed them their first real food. People often ask how I’m able to balance working from home and raising two kids – it’s hard, but it’s the hardest job I’ve ever loved. As they grow up, I realize how fast it happens so I try to enjoy everything with them – every moment that brings laughter, surprise, or sometimes sadness. I’ve tried to mentally capture all those special times. And while there have been certain choices I’ve made in my career to witness all these special moments, I wouldn’t trade them for the world. I’d do it all over again. Although this day is meant to give fathers their special day, I can’t help but think that I’ve already been given much more. I’m the one that should be thankful for having had the opportunity to be a dad.
NACE 2010 was the first conference I felt I attended without being there (see Day 1 and Day 2 posts). In talking with several career centers and employers before the conference, I know that budget constraints minimized either their presence or cut their participation all together. While I’ve followed conference discussions via Twitter before, there seemed to be a genuine desire by attendees to use Twitter as a communication bridge for those that were not able to attend this year’s conference. NACE 2010 participants unselfishly shared information (and the fun) from the conference and took many of us into the sessions with them – and for that I’m grateful.
Perhaps it was the fact that I was tuning in via Twitter – but it seems the conference had a strong ‘relationship’ theme – in building partnerships with employers, students, faculty, and other on-campus functions. And while this is probably a recurring theme at most NACE conferences, the ability to build these relationships using technology (social media) was seen as essential given the characteristics of today’s college student. Some career centers and employers are leveraging these tools to their full potential while others are just now starting to understand its promise. However, this new technological approach raises many questions in regards to resources, privacy issues, budget constraints, and expertise colleges and employers can lend to these efforts. The old adage of coming away with more questions than answers is certainly appropriate in this case.
So that’s it – fortunately for me there was no traveling back home once the conference ended ; ) I had a great time following the discussions online, but I hope to attend next year’s NACE conference in person…..I really want to win an iPad!
Next month the 
My alma mater and previous employer,
NACE 2010 was the first conference I felt I attended without being there (see 
