U.S. Hispanic women, also known as Latinas, have recently and rapidly surfaced as prominent contributors to the educational, economic and cultural well-being of not only their own ethnicity, but of American society and the consumer marketplace. This rise of Latinas is driven both by strong demographics and a healthy inclination toward success in mainstream America.

Within the overall Hispanic demographic, women are the ones in the driver’s seat, according to a recent report published by Nielsen.

Latinas are becoming more educated, tech savvy and connected, allowing them to write their own destinies and challenge the dynamic of Hispanic households. With 86 percent of Latina women making purchasing decisions in households, the times are changing and economic power is shifting.

For the first time, Latinas are exceeding non-Hispanic females in college enrollment. A record 73 percent of Hispanic high school female graduates are enrolling in college, 11 percent ahead of Hispanic males.

Such achievement is naturally driving a bigger role for Latinas as business owners.

“Of all the groups, it is Latinas that are starting more business than any other gender or racial group,” says Graciela Tiscareño, Chief Creative Officer, Gracefully Global Group LLC in Castro Valley.

“More women are realizing that it’s better to start your own company and be your own CEO.”

Leaders like Tiscareño say that Latinas are networking  at a new level today.

“With social media, Latinas are communicating like we have not before,” she says. “Now more than social, it’s about access and a leadership role, connecting, sharing successes, or send business to each other. We want to reach out, help and connect.”

“When they start their own business, it is a transformative, positive experience,” says Viola Gonzales, Chief Executive Officer of AnewAmerica Community Corporation in Berkeley. The organization provides entrepreneurs and their families with a 3-year holistic program to start a business.

“When women come to us they want to uplift their family,” adds Gonzales. “They bring a family member and want their family linked up and entrepreneurism is a way of having more flexibility in their life.”
Other Bay Area organizations are also seeing the rise of Latinas in business.

“Latinos is where we see growth in California for startup businesses,” says Mark Quinn, San Francisco District Office District Director for the Small Business Administration (SBA). SBA does two things for emerging business communities: business training and loans to help people start or grow their business.

Quinn says that in the Latino community, both men and women are starting businesses faster than the rate of all businesses in the U.S., and that women-owned businesses are starting at about twice the rate of men.

“We see Latina businesses having a higher share of the SBA programs because that is where the growth is in small business.”

“We except to do about $100 million in guaranteed loans for Latino businesses this year – about $20m in the Bay Area – that is about twice the number of what we did two years ago. We are seeing a big growth in SBA lending to the Latino community.”

Raquel Donoso, CEO of the Latino Community Foundation in San Francisco, has also seen the shift recently.

“I have been in the Bay Area for 13 years now and I have to that over the last 2-3 years I have seen a great jump in the visibility of Latinas in all areas. You are now seeing a younger generation of Latinas coming into key positions in nonprofit, government and corporate sector. I do see a bigger shift happening with a new generation of Latinas.”