2023 Pacific Coast Business Times Latino Business Awards

Congratulations to our winners!

Cal Lutheran Center for Economic Research and Forecasting honored with Latino Leadership Award

California Lutheran University’s Center for Economic Research and Forecasting (CERF) economists Dan Hamilton and Matthew Fienup, along with research partners David Hayes-Bautista and Paul Hsu of UCLA, are recipients of the 2023 Pacific Coast Business Times’ Latino Leadership Award. The team received the award for its development of the Latino GDP Project, an ambitious effort to document the large and rapidly growing economic contribution of Latinos living in the United States. The project includes separate U.S., State and Metro-Area Latino GDP reports.

The Latino GDP Project has been the subject of more than 120 separate features across print, digital and broadcast media, including the Wall Street Journal, Barron’s, MarketWatch, Forbes, Axios, NBC News, CNBC, MSNBC, The Hill, yahoo!finance and Telemundo. The research has been presented live to more than 12,500 people in nine different states, including to the U.S. Joint Economic Committee of the U.S. Congress and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, and was the centerpiece of a systemwide Hispanic heritage event held by the U.S. Federal Reserve System.

Paul Hsu, Dan Hamilton, David Hayes-Bautista, Matthew Fienup

Pictured (left to right): Paul Hsu, Dan Hamilton, David Hayes-Bautista, Matthew Fienup

The total economic output, or GDP, of Latinos in the United States was $2.8 trillion in 2020, up from, $1.7 trillion in 2010. If Latinos living in the United States were an independent country, the U.S. Latino GDP would be the fifth largest GDP in the world, larger even than the GDPs of the United Kingdom, India or France. From 2010 to 2020, the U.S. Latino GDP was the third fastest growing among the 10 largest GDPs, while the broader U.S. economy ranked fifth. These data reveal that U.S. Latinos are drivers of economic growth and a critical source of resilience for the broader economy.

Cal Lutheran’s Center for Economic Research and Forecasting (CERF) is a nationally recognized economic forecasting house and a member of both the Wall Street Journal Economic Forecast Survey and the National Association for Business Economics Economic Outlook Survey. Dr. Fienup and Dr. Hamilton received 2019, 2020 and 2021 Crystal Ball Awards for the Zillow (formerly Case-Shiller) Home Price Expectations Survey. CERF’s U.S. home price forecast received multiple top-three rankings among more than 100 forecasts included in the survey.

For information about the Center for Economic Research and Forecasting, visit CluCERF.org. To learn more about Cal Lutheran’s School of Management, visit CalLutheran.edu/Management. To read the Latino Business Awards publication, visit the Pacific Coast Business Times.

Cal Lutheran student Cecely Zamora awarded Pacific Coast Business Times/Ventura County Community Foundation Scholarship

Cecely Zamora, a third-year student at California Lutheran University, has won a $1,000 Pacific Coast Business Times/Ventura County Community Foundation Scholarship. Zamora, majoring in business administration with an emphasis in management, was selected based on her dedication to a career in business as detailed in her winning essay. The scholarship will be awarded during the newspaper’s annual Latino Business Awards event July 20.

A dedicated student, Zamora understands the importance of being involved in university endeavors beyond the classroom. “I believe that my purpose has always been to serve my community,” Zamora said. “My parents instilled in me at a young age the importance of giving back to others and to be of service whenever possible.”

Zamora works as a strategic events assistant in the University Advancement Department, where she supports various high-level institutional events and activities. Starting in the fall, she also will volunteer on the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Justice and Belonging (DEIJB) Steering Committee for the School of Management. She plans to continue this type of work in the future. “With my degree, work experience and bicultural upbringing, I believe that I can make valuable contributions to developing DEI in workplaces,” she said.

Once she completes her degree, she plans to work in community banking or human resource management.

“I found that even though there are many qualified Latinx individuals with college degrees, the number of them in leadership positions is disproportionately low,” she said. “More so, research shows that organizations with low or no Latinx individuals in positions of upper management are losing the advantage of the insights these Latinx individuals can provide due to their unique bicultural upbringing. This class and others inflamed my passion to learn more about the challenges in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion our organizations face.”

Cecely Zamora

Pictured: Cecely Zamora

When she is not studying or working, Zamora spends her time as a volunteer kickboxing instructor, getting active at the gym or listening to music. Most importantly, she values being active in her church community and enjoys the company of her family and friends.

Cal Lutheran is proud to hold the designation of Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) since 2016. To learn more about our HSI efforts, visit CalLutheran.edu/hispanic-serving. To learn more about the university’s DEIJB efforts, visit CalLutheran.edu/diversity.