SAN DIEGO–A world-class slate of chief executives, entrepreneurs, celebrities, economists, educators, journalists, and policymakers gathered at the Grand Hyatt in downtown San Diego from Sept. 8-11 to kick off L’ATTITUDE, a historic four-day business, media, and leadership event celebrating the unique impact of U.S. Latinos on the New Mainstream Economy.
L’ATTITUDE, the brainchild of former US West CEO Sol Trujillo and National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Profession co-founder and CEO Gary Acosta, featured a packed slate of panel discussions, presentations, and interactive dialogue.
The inaugural festival, which drew approximately 6,000 attendees, focused on the role America’s nearly 59 million Latinos play in driving U.S. population growth, entrepreneurship, income, and so much more.
The event’s list of headliners and presenters included Zoe Saldana, actor and entrepreneur; Alex Rodriguez, Major League Baseball All-Star and entrepreneur; Robert Rodriguez, filmmaker and entrepreneur; Chef José Andrés, chef and entrepreneur; Thomas Friedman, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author; John C. Maxwell, author, speaker, and leadership expert; Luis Fonsi, singer and songwriter; Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO of Uber; Tim Sloan, Chief Executive Officer and President of Wells Fargo; Thaddeus Arroyo, CEO at AT&T Business Services; Dennis Muilenburg, CEO of Boeing; Oscar Munoz, CEO of United Airlines; Leo Pareja, CEO of Remine; Dr. Paul Jacobs, Chairman and CEO of XCOM-Tech; Ted Acosta, Americas Vice Chair of Risk Management, EY; Cesar Conde, Chairman of NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises; Ralph de la Vega, Chairman of the De La Vega Group; Maria Teresa Kumar, President and CEO of Voto Latino; Guillermo Diaz, Jr., Chief Information Officer at Cisco; John Peyton, CEO of Realogy Franchise Group; Steven Ellis, Head of Innovation at Wells Fargo; Paul Fipps, Chief Digital Officer at Under Armour; Beatriz Acevedo, Founder of Mitú; Ron Brownstein, Senior Editor at The Atlantic and CNN political analyst; Geoff Colvin, Senior Editor at Large at Fortune; Ruth Marcus, editor and columnist at The Washington Post and MSNBC contributor; Nick Bailey, CEO of Century 21 Real Estate (the exclusive residential real estate brand of L’ATTITUDE); Rick Sanchez, journalist; Tim Shriver, Chairman of Special Olympics; Henry Cisneros, Former Housing and Urban Development Secretary; Daisy Khan, author, reformer, and founder of WISE; Federico Peña, Former U.S. Transportation Secretary; Ken Salazar, Former U.S. Senator and Secretary of the Interior; Don Baer, Global Chairman of Burson, Cohn and Wolfe; Adela de la Torre, President of San Diego State University; Michael Crow, President of Arizona State University; Eduardo Padrón, President of Miami Dade College; and singer and songwriter Nicky Jam, who will give an exclusive performance.
Trujillo has amassed a plethora of data to prove that U.S Latinos are the primary drivers behind what he has labeled the new mainstream economy. By 2020, U.S. Latino purchasing power is expected to reach $1.7 trillion, and is currently growing 70% faster than Americans as a whole.
“We are at a truly historic juncture in American history,” says Trujillo. “Latinos are not only the youngest and fastest-growing demographic in the country – they’re also producing nearly $2.2 trillion in gross domestic product, which essentially makes them the seventh-largest economy in the world. Our data shows that U.S. Latinos generated nearly one-third of this country’s growth in real income since 2005 – at a rate that’s faster than any other ethnic group – and what’s more, they’re starting businesses at a rate 10 times higher than the rest of the population.”
“The data is clear: what I like to call ‘The Latino Factor’ is propelling America’s New Mainstream Economy forward at incredible speed, and the population growth and productivity of American Latinos shows no signs of slowing,” Trujillo says. “Businesses who recognize and tap into the buying power, innovation, and political and social capital of this rapidly-growing demographic are on track to generate billions of dollars in new revenue every year.”
Sponsors of the event included Walmart, Wells Fargo, AT&T, PepsiCo, Century 21 Real Estate (the exclusive residential real estate brand of L’ATTITUDE,) EY, Quicken Loans, United Airlines, and the Wall Street Journal, as well as broadcast media partners CNBC and Telemundo.
L’ATTITUDE is a business and media event that celebrates the impact Latinos, the youngest and fastest growing major demographic in the U.S. and the primary drivers behind the new mainstream economy, have on American culture.