Take Note Of These Latina White House Staffers

It is a widely known fact that women face unique challenges gaining access to career opportunities and positions of leadership. There are gaps, and they are real for women across diverse fields in both public and private sectors.

For example, The Harvard Business Review recently published an article reporting that the average mid-forties male college graduate earns 55% more than his female counterpart. Online destinations, such as Harvard’s Gender Action Portal and Catalyst among others, exist to empower decision-makers and organizations with much needed data to elevate the priority for gender equity. However, while there seems to be a sea of information, finding data and stories that are relevant to the journey of Latinas- the group of women driving more than 50% of American’s population growth- is still very limited.

In the world of politics, it has been reported that President Trump’s cabinet is the most male dominated than any cabinet since Ronald Reagan’s with four women and four minorities. That’s 17% female and minorities, compared to Obama’s 32% and 45% respectively. Reporting on these diversity numbers play a much bigger role than one of representation and feel-good scorecards. Plenty of research validates that women make strong, engaged and highly effective and emotionally intelligent leaders. Also, diverse teams deliver higher levels of performance and financial returns than predominately homogenous teams. Certainly having diverse voices at the table matter to find better solutions, ideas and policies that work for all Americans.

While the cabinet may lack diversity, there are key members of the sub-cabinet and staffers working at the White House who do bring diverse perspectives and voices. The media rather report on controversial matters or perpetuate an unfortunate tone of divisiveness, while the work of many Latinas often go unreported, yet their influence and proximity to the President and his key decision makers make them powerful voices for diversity.
To read the full story:  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/latinas-to-watch-inside-the-white-house_us_595ee42de4b085e766b51189