Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month

AT&T Blog Team
October 2, 2020
Community Impact


Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month

As we celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month from September 15th – October 15th, it’s important to reflect on what each of our companies and organizations are doing to promote cultural awareness and inclusion of the Hispanic/Latino community.

Inclusiveness is built into AT&T’s company culture, and diversity at all levels of our workforce is critical to our success. I’m proud to work for a company that signed the Hispanic Promise, a first-of-its-kind national pledge to hire, promote, retain and celebrate Hispanics in the workplace. The Hispanic/Latino community makes up 15.9% of AT&T’s workforce in the U.S. and continues to grow, as does their impact on our economy.

Having the largest racial or ethnic minority population in the U.S.1, Hispanics contribute significantly to the U.S. economy.

  • The GDP produced by the Latino community in the U.S. in 2017 was $2.3 trillion.2
  • GDP among the Latino community also grew at a faster rate than the overall U.S. economy in that time.3
  • There are 4.7 million Hispanic-owned businesses that, combined, contribute over $700 billion to the American economy every year.4

While we celebrate the significant contributions of Hispanics/Latino to our communities and companies, we must address the negative impact COVID-19 has had on them. According to the Brookings Institution, job and wage losses due to COVID-19 have hit Latino adults the hardest and 33% of Latino parents/primary caregivers have either seen their business shut down and/or have experienced significant drops in revenue. Latino Americans are also more likely than non-Hispanic whites to contract COVID-19 and to face disproportionately high mortality rates when they contract the virus.

What is AT&T doing to help?

At AT&T, our core value to Stand for Equality has never been more relevant, not only inside AT&T but outside, as well. It is a business imperative to champion equality, diversity and inclusion in every aspect of our business. That’s why we recently committed an additional $10 million this year to create economic opportunities and foster upward mobility for underserved communities who face long-standing social inequities and higher unemployment, all of which are exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

As part of this commitment, AT&T New Mexico is supporting organizations that help create sustainable progress for underserved communities in the state, such as:

  • The National Hispanic Cultural Center
  • The Albuquerque Hispano Chamber of Commerce
  • Youth Development Inc.
  • Cuidando Los Niños
  • PB&J Family Services

Across the country, we’re working with many organizations to support their mission to advocate for the Hispanic/Latino community, including:

  • National Association of Latino Elected Officials (NALEO)
  • National Hispanic Council of State Legislators (NHCSL)
  • UnidosUS
  • League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC)
  • United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
  • The Latino Coalition
  • United States Hispanic Leadership Institute (USHLI)
  • Hispanic Federation
  • National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts
  • Mexican American Women’s National Association (MANA)
  • Hispanic Heritage Foundation

For decades, AT&T has worked to better serve our Hispanic/Latino customers and communities, and that work continues today as we remain committed more than ever to be a leader in diversity and inclusion.


1 United States Census Bureau

2 LDC U.S. Latino GDP Report

3 Id

4 United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce

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