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HISPANIC-AMERICAN INSTITUTE
ZOOM DIALOGUES

The Hispanic-American Institute launched a series of Zoom dialogues / dialogos to discuss
with the Latino community and small business owners in Massachusetts the issues and
challenges affecting them during the Covid-19 pandemic and to inform them on the financial and
technical assistance programs that are available to these communities. We have held over
twenty Zoom dialogos, starting on April 14, 2020, addressing a variety of topics ranging from
how to fill a Payroll Protection Program (PPP) loan application, to unemployment and labor
workforce issues, to health care inequities due to Covid-19.


The Institute saw an immediate need to inform Latino and minority business owners of the

financial and technical assistance available by the various State and Federal agencies and non-
profit institutions offering free help. Since our first Zoom dialogue with Bob Nelson, SBA Boston

District Director, and Quincy Miller, President and CEO of Eastern Bank addressing the topic of
the SBA Payroll Protection Program, we received an incredibly positive response from Latino
business owners and the community at large. Using our resource partners, such as the North
Shore Latino Business Association of Lynn, Federacion Hispana de Comerciantes of Lawrence,
the Massachusetts Growth Capital Corporation, El Mundo newspaper, Amplify Latin-X, and
others we were able to reach out and engage the community in dialogues of relevance to them:
always addressing topics of interest.


Now in its 22nd session, these dialogues have allowed small business owners and the
community at large engage experts from public health, banking and finance, community-based
organizations, government officials, in conversations with the community to answer their
questions. The dialogues also offer an opportunity to these leaders hear directly from the people
in the community being affected by the pandemic. This feedback has enlightened decision
makers to formulate more effective policies and programs.


Given its popularity, we are pivoting to other topics such as workforce development and health
care. Secretary of Labor from the Commonwealth, Rosalin Acosta, appeared in a recent Zoom
on January 28th speaking about the high unemployment rate found in the Latino workforce and
the inequities found in the accessibility to jobs. She was accompanied by Christine Adams, the
President and CEO of Commonwealth Corporation, a quasi-governmental organization
providing workforce training programs to companies and employees, and by Vivian Iannotti,
CEO of Stop and Compare Markets, one of the companies offering training to her employees
under CommCorp’s Workforce Training Program.


Juan Lopera and Rudy Bozas from Tufts Health Plan participated in two early Zoom dialogues
in April and June 2020. In the June 20th dialogue, Juan Lopera spoke about the impacts of
Covid-19, the importance of social distancing and other public health measures and addressed
the inequities found in the incidence of the virus among people of color. Now our Zoom
dialogues will pivot to the theme of the need for vaccination and to inform latinos about the
benefits of getting vaccinated.

This series of dialogues are focused on information gathering and dissemination to small and
Latino business owners about the financial and technical assistance that are available as part of
the CARES act. We use an open free format to encourage business owners to ask questions and
talk about the challenges and concerns they are facing in front of Subject Matter Experts
(SME’s). Given the uncertainty of the times, the Institute has invited experts on finance, legal,
banks, CPAs, insurance agencies, community organizations and other business experts to be
guest speakers at our Dialogues. Our sessions are focused on what is happening at the time and
have shifted from financial assistance and access to capital to business reopening. These
dialogues are carried out via Zoom using any personal computer, tablet, or Smart phone.

For more information please contact:​
​

Nader Acevedo,

Executive Vice President

nacevedo@hainst.org

Tel: (617) 637-6403

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