LatinaLista — The Latino population may be increasing, and it’s a fact that it is, but one particular area where there is a sore lack of Hispanic representation is on corporate boards and among senior corporate management.
The 2009 HACR Corporate Inclusion Index published by the Hispanic Association for Corporate Responsibility (HACR), found (unsurprisingly) that of the 114 Fortune 100 businesses surveyed (better word would be “participated”) “only 6% out of 384 open board positions are held by Hispanics. And of the 1,281 executive and director positions available, Hispanics held only 61 positions.”
But that’s not all the bad news.
The HACR report found that when they asked the participating companies how much in a given year is their percentage of total philanthropic dollars distributed to the Hispanic community, the answer was deeply disappointing.
On average, those who responded invested only 2.52% of all foundation and corporate dollars to the Hispanic Community.
The average corporate giving distributed in 2008 of those who responded, was approximately $31 million. Of these dollars, $1.37 million were directed to the Hispanic community.
With the need so great in Latino communities across the country and non-profits struggling to meet those needs, it’s obvious that corporate America has exhibited little interest or desire to partner with non-profits that service Latinos.
Given what we know of the future of Latinos in this country, if current conditions persist, this report should be a wake-up call to Corporate America that they need to step up to the plate and help accelerate achievement and success in the Latino community — because, quite literally, the future of this nation’s economy depends on it.
