by Ileana Martinez | Sep 14, 2022 | News & Updates
Nation’s Service-Employment-Redevelopment Network Says September 15 to October 15 Observance Offers a Portal Into The Contributions 62-Million US Latinos Are Making Daily
Hispanic Heritage Month begins this week. For the next four weeks, various events and festivities highlighting Hispanic culture, business, and issues are planned throughout the United States. The annual month-long tribute to all-things Latino is the single largest Hispanic cultural event in the country. The idea first became a week-long happening started by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1968. Twenty years later, President Ronald Reagan expanded the observance to an entire month by passing a law enacted on August 17, 1988.
“Hispanic Heritage Month is an essential opportunity for all Americans to explore and discover the many positive ways Latino men and women are adding to the vibrancy and character of our nation, and with good reason,” says Ignacio Salazar, SER National President & Chief Executive Officer. “Today, one in five persons in the United States is Latino, with a growth rate of 23% since 2010. As importantly, we are becoming a significant part of the fabric of every community where we live. This assimilation includes strides in speaking English at 72% to advance in their jobs or business. At the same time, many immigrants still honor the tradition of speaking Spanish at home among family and friends. Also, four out of every five Latinos in the United States are US citizens, with roots going back four or five generations. We’re veterans, teachers, business owners, professionals, creatives, and so much more. We are the very image of America today,” adds Salazar.
Hispanics are contributing a significant and increasingly larger portion to the US economy’s total strength. This is because, as the single largest demographic, 25-and-under, Latinos now represent a combined spending power of $1.5 trillion annually. Plus, Hispanics pay nearly $400 billion in taxes yearly, representing the most significant single payors as a percentage of income. Their most considerable single tax contribution is to the US Social Security system, where Hispanics account for more than $210 billion annually, a critical boost to the program’s longevity. All these economic indicators for Hispanics are trending upward as more Latinos increase their education. Nearly 15% of Hispanics now have a college degree. Notably, almost 3 million Hispanics are small business owners, more than a third more likely to be entrepreneurs than the entire US population.
“From Hollywood’s box office to the ballot box at our neighborhood polling place, our presence is also being felt,” says Salazar. “Out of 252 films and streaming services studied, a large percentage of revenue came from communities of color, especially Latinos, for six of the top 10 grossing films. Similar trends are being seen in Hispanic voting power, where this year, a milestone of 35 million or greater Latinos will be eligible to vote. Indeed, this is an exciting time to be an American and see the future take shape right before our eyes of a more diverse, stronger nation working together,” says Salazar.
by Ileana Martinez | Sep 8, 2022 | News & Updates
Nation’s Service-Employment-Redevelopment Network Pauses to Remember and Celebrate the Lives of the 2,977 Victims Lost at Three Sites On That Fateful Day
SER National is paying its respects to the men and women who perished in the terrorist attacks on our nation on September 11, 2001. America was struck at the World Trade Center in New York City, and at the Pentagon in Washington, DC in two separate acts of violence where passenger jets were used as missiles by hijackers. The third site where American lives were lost is located in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, near Shanksville where United Airlines flight 93 crashed as passengers attempted to retake control of their plane from members of the same Al Qaeda cell.
“We still mourn the nearly 3,000 mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, brothers and sisters whose lives were taken in the single worst attack by an enemy on American soil,” says Ignacio Salazar, SER National President & Chief Executive Officer. “Today, more than two decades later, we can still remember vividly the images of destruction and chaos in our nation’s largest city, the charred scene at the heart of our country’s military leadership complex, and the scarred earth ripped open by a plane that was brought down when brave Americans fought back courageously,” adds Salazar.
Yet, as painful as 9/11 was and shall always be seared into our very souls, our nation is comforted by the outpouring of love and support that continues to be shown for the survivors and families of those men and women who died. Also, the children of 9/11 who are now grown speak with bittersweet pride of their first responder loved ones who made the ultimate sacrifice as they rushed back into harm’s way in the twin towers. And yes, there are those who suffered in the arduous aftermath of 9/11 recovery for whom medical care and assistance came too late and we have learned much about how to do better. Indeed, our lives changed on that day, and all of us have been touched in one way or another.
“On this 21st anniversary of that tragic day, Americans can recommit to the principles of unity and resolve that we witnessed in the days following the attack. While the economic losses of 9/11 are known in places like New York City, the greater toll America suffered was the fear and distrust of the ‘other’ the attacks engendered. This is where each of us can have a role in our daily lives. We can and must reach within to our better selves and seek the common ground of shared understanding and purpose. Goodwill need not wear a label, nor our neighbor be seen through a lens defined by politics, gender, color or faith. This is the true strength of America; that out of the ashes of the World Trade Center, the Pentagon or the soil of Pennsylvania, our collective spirit emerged, lifted, hopeful, enduring. May this continue to be the triumph born out of tragedy. We owe it to those we lost, and we owe it to those who will follow us. America’s greatness cannot be vanquished.”
by Ileana Martinez | Sep 2, 2022 | News & Updates
Nation’s Service-Employment-Redevelopment Network Points to Trends In Healthcare, Technology, and Sustainable Sectors As Being Among the Strongest in America’s Future
SER National is observing Labor Day 2022 as America is experiencing one of the most significant increases in job openings in recent years, pointing to the growing demand for employment-ready men and women, especially in three areas dealing with quality of life in the United States.
“This Labor Day is a time of celebration and optimism across our country,” says Ignacio Salazar, SER National President & Chief Executive Officer. “The demand for a trained workforce to fill more than 11.2 million jobs is a positive sign of a healthy economy showing no signs of letting up. Also, this historic level of job opportunities compels us at SER National and the SER Network of Affiliates to do everything we can daily and add even greater numbers of trained, skilled individuals into the pipeline. Human capital is at a premium right now, which is a challenge we have undertaken to help solve. We are especially excited to see the opportunities in areas that address our health care needs, as well as leveraging technology advances and training for eco-sustainable and eco-regeneration positions,” adds Salazar.
According to the Department of Labor Statistics, there are 5.67 million workers in the nation’s job-seeking pool, about half the number needed to meet current demand. Also adding to the tight job candidate situation is the rate of job switching, which stands at 2.7 percent, still considered high within the historical context. Officials explain the reason for job changing trend is that workers who switch jobs more often realize income gains averaging 6.7%, while those who stay longer in their current jobs see only a 4.9% hike. Another noteworthy trend this Labor Day is the outlook for the fastest-growing careers. These are wind-power generation technicians, nurse practitioners, especially in geriatrics, statisticians, plus network security personnel.
“As Americans, we can be proud on this Labor Day that we live in a country that offers an abundance of choices in career paths, including certificated positions, specialized trades, and professions that reward those with advanced degrees,” says Salazar. “Every generation aspires to mentor the next and hopes those who follow will raise the bar higher, advance farther, dream, and do greater. This ideal is the spirit of Labor Day, that our work is a blessing, and our purpose is not simply to do for ourselves but for others, including family, community, and our nation. The often-repeated refrain of the late President John F. Kennedy, ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country, has never been a more appropriate call to action. Let us encourage one another to get back to work to answer our nation’s needs. This Labor Day, may we each champion our resolve as a country to achieve our greatest potential in unity and goodwill for the common good.”
by Ileana Martinez | Jun 21, 2022 | News & Updates
Resiliency and the desire for the American Dream are what contribute to the success of an entrepreneur in our country. Thank you to the Fort Worth Star Telegram for featuring our director of program development, Julian Martinez, and his entrepreneurial family lineage breaking barriers for Latino entrepreneurs in last Sunday’s edition of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Click here to view the full story.
by Ileana Martinez | Jun 17, 2022 | News & Updates
Ignacio Salazar, President, and CEO of SER Jobs for Progress National, Inc., issued the following statement to celebrate Juneteenth, 2022. This day is the first anniversary of this historical event as an official federal observance authorized by President Biden last year. The origin of Juneteenth dates back 156 years to June 19, 1865, when enslaved Black people in Galveston, Texas, were finally freed, two months after the end of the U.S. Civil War. Federal troops were sent to free the enslaved people from those who vowed to keep them until armed Union troops arrived. Only then did the former owners comply with the Emancipation Proclamation issued by President Abraham Lincoln.
“SER National is proud and honored to join with millions of people across the United States and Puerto Rico in reflecting on the true meaning of this day. Juneteenth holds a special place in our hearts because it reminds us of the inherent yearning for freedom within each of us. This freedom is rooted deep in our human spirit and enables us to be uplifted, strengthened, and capable of enduring even the most challenging events in our lives. More than a century later, we can learn from the moving accounts of men, women, and children who held together after the end of the costliest war our nation has ever faced. They continued even after learning they were free while their owners kept them in shackles. Rather than rebel and be killed, these formerly enslaved people drew from the spiritual freedom within their hearts. They resisted through the resilience of their unwavering faith, knowing that release was near.
At SER National and throughout our SER Network of Affiliates, we sincerely believe that every individual has the inherent capacity to achieve, given opportunity, training, and effort. Like those courageous black Americans tasting freedom officially for the first time in their lives, the more than a million people we serve yearly experience the rewards of their resilience and perseverance. Many are free economically for the first time in their lives with new skills and purpose. They can begin to plan their futures for themselves and their families with nothing and no one to hold them back. Today, as in 1865, we stand at the edge of unlimited possibilities with the opportunity to break free from fear of the pandemic and work together to confront historical challenges. Also, our labor pool of willing workers is growing steadily, and our elected leaders are reckoning with issues that affect all of us, including public safety, economic stability, racial justice, and gender equity and equality.
Juneteenth, 1865 did not cure all our nation’s ills overnight. It would take time before formerly enslaved people broke through economic and social repression to achieve notable outcomes, like five who became elected leaders. Today, America is blessed to have advanced much farther, and we can celebrate and protect our freedoms for all.”
by Ileana Martinez | Jun 16, 2022 | News & Updates
President Biden is naming Julie Chavez Rodriguez to serve as a White House senior adviser, putting her on par with some of his most senior and longest-serving aides and making her the first Latina to ever hold a top West Wing staffing role.
Rodriguez currently serves as director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs and the White House is set to announce Wednesday that she will retain that position and become a senior adviser and special assistant to the president, serving alongside other longtime Biden aides Mike Donilon, Steve Ricchetti and Anita Dunn, who recently returned to the White House.
Rodriguez will now be part of a wider clutch of aides, including chief of staff Ron Klain, deputy chief of staff Jennifer O’Malley Dillon and communications director Kate Bedingfield, who consult with the president daily on a wide range of domestic, foreign, communications and political issues.
When the president consults his senior team in the Oval Office, there’s a 22-inch-tall bronze bust of Cesar Chavez peering at them. Chavez is the late civil rights and farm worker leader who founded the union that eventually became known as the United Farm Workers — and Julie Chavez Rodriguez is his granddaughter.
That she’ll be sitting in on big meetings with the likeness of her grandfather watching “is pretty remarkable and speaks to both what I see as the important opportunities in this country but also that this administration continues to create,” Rodriguez told CBS News on Tuesday night. “That in two generations we can go from a farmworker to a senior adviser in the Oval Office sitting together.”
Her new role comes amid other staff changes set to be formally announced Wednesday, including the addition of Keisha Lance Bottoms, the former mayor of Atlanta, who will lead the White House Office of Public Engagement, a job recently vacated by Cedric Richmond, who is now serving as an outside political adviser to the president.
The changes come as the White House is staffing up again for what is poised to be a rocky season for an increasingly unpopular president trying to stave off widespread Democratic Party losses in the midterm elections. Several senior staffers, many of whom worked on Mr. Biden’s 2020 campaign or with him during the Obama administration, have departed for the private sector in recent weeks, others are expected to continue shifting into new roles and others may eventually move to the president’s 2024 anticipated reelection campaign.
Rodriguez’s current role keeps her in constant touch with lawmakers and the nation’s mayors, county executives and governors regarding Biden administration policies and in the aftermath of natural disasters or other emergencies.
Much of her work has focused on selling and explaining the bipartisan infrastructure plan and the American Rescue Plan, and how local and state leaders can apply for or reap the benefits of the record levels of federal funding established by the laws. But colleagues also noted that she relaunched the White House Working Group on Puerto Rico and ensured that her office’s director for Puerto Rican affairs was someone born and raised in Puerto Rico.
In the new role, Rodriguez said she expects to focus on those same issues, plus immigration reform and “the important impact that we’re having in the Latino community and making sure that that impact is understood and felt in communities across the country.”
Rodriguez served as deputy of the intergovernmental affairs office during the Obama administration after working on the Obama-Biden 2008 campaign. She credited the office’s then-director, Cecilia Munoz, who “served as a mentor and adviser to so many people like me that are continuing to impact and influence both government inside and outside in remarkable ways.”
As the Obama administration ended, Rodriguez was hired by then-Sen. Kamala Harris to serve as the new senator’s state director. She later worked on the Harris presidential campaign as a traveling chief of staff, a connection that eventually brought her back to Biden.
While there are four Latinos in the Biden Cabinet — the most to ever serve a president concurrently — Rodriguez will be the first Latina to hold such a senior role on a president’s West Wing staff.
It’s a decision likely to help assuage at least some concern among Latino lawmakers and civil rights organizations — usually expressed only privately but often directly to the president’s top aides — that Mr. Biden is missing valuable and important real-world and political perspective by not placing more Latinos in senior roles.
Luisana Pérez Fernández
Director of Hispanic Media
The White House
