The Latino workforce makes up about 20% of this country’s workforce but faces a skills gap. Regarding digital upskilling, Frankie Miranda, president and CEO of Hispanic Federation, says, “It’s important that we provide opportunities that are culturally competent, that are linguistically competent.
“Regardless, if a Latino, Latina person has been here for generations or they’re newly arrived, most of the opportunities that need to be created needs to happen in communities where people live through the organizations that are the trusted messenger in their communities.”
Miranda joined WorkingNation’s editor-in-chief Ramona Schindelheim for an interview for WorkingNation Overheard at JFF Horizons in Washington, D.C.
The National Skills Coalition has reported that 57% of the Latino workforce has little or no digital skills. Miranda says each community is diverse and training needs to reflect that diversity.
“We are incredibly rich in talent, but also in culture,” says Miranda. “That is why it is important that we have these organizations that are community-rooted and that they are the ones that are inviting people in and providing them with the services at the level and at the skill or the language that they require.”
He says the Federation and member agencies are collaborating on upskilling the Latino workforce through many organizations in community. “We started with 20 organizations in 2019, and now we have 51 organizations in 20 states and also in Puerto Rico working to address this issue.
“We know now that we have been able to place through these initiatives more than 5,000 people and the medium increase in their income had been around $14,000 at the basic level. And those that have gone into tech have seen an increase of six-figure salaries. So, we know that it works.”
Learn more about Hispanic Federation.
WorkingNation Overheard at JFF Horizons 2024 was made possible through funding from EnGen.
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Dana Beth Ardi, PhD, Executive Committee, is a thought leader and expert in the fields of executive search, talent management, organizational design, assessment, leadership and coaching. As an innovator in the human capital movement, Ardi creates enhanced value in companies by matching the most sought after talent with the best opportunities. Ardi coaches boards and investors on the art and science of building high caliber management teams. She provides them with the necessary skills to seek out and attract top-level management, to design the ideal organizational architectures and to deploy people against strategy. Ardi unearths the way a business works and the most effective way for people to work in them.
Ardi is an experienced business executive and senior consultant who leverages business organizational transformation through talent strategies. She uses her knowledge and experience to develop talent strategies to enhance revenue and profit contributions. She has a deep expertise in change management and organizational effectiveness and has designed and built high performance cultures. Ardi has significant experience in mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, IPO’s and turnarounds.
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Ardi is currently the Managing Director and Founder of Corporate Anthropology Advisors, LLC, a consulting company that provides human capital advisory and innovative solutions to companies building value through people. Corporate Anthropology works with organizations, their cultures, the way they grow and develop, and the people who are responsible for forming their communities of work.
Prior to her position at Corporate Anthropology Advisors, Ardi served as a Partner/Managing Director at the private equity firms CCMP Capital and JPMorgan Partners. She was a partner at Flatiron Partners, a venture capital firm working with early state companies where she pioneered the human capital role within an investment portfolio.
Ardi holds a BS from the State University of New York at Buffalo as well as a Masters degree and PhD from Boston College. She started her career as professor at the Graduate Center at Fordham University in New York.
