NCLR Engaged Experts in Housing and Financial Fields to Identify Ways to Restore Latino Financial Security

Today, the NCLR hosted a conference call engaging a number of experts in the housing and financial fields to discuss restoring paths to financial security for Latinos.
Key call participants included: Henry Cisneros, Chairman and CEO, American CityVista; Janis Bowdler, Associate Director, Wealth-Building Policy Project, National Council of La Raza (NCLR); Andrew Jakabovics, Associate Director, Economic Mobility Program, Center for American Progress; Luis Pastor and President and CEO, Latino Community Credit Union, Cooperativa Latina.
Participants on the call gave an update on the status of Latino homeowners and consumers. They provided proposals for restoring the financial safety net in all communities, including calling for solutions that get to the root of the problem, reducing foreclosures and bringing back credit to minority communites.

President Obama names Latina NCLR Alumni as Director of Intergovernmental Affairs!

The Washington Post reports:

Obama Appoints White House Speechwriting and Intergovernmental Affairs Heads
President-elect Barack Obama continued rounding out his White House staff today, naming Jonathan Favreau director of speechwriting and Cecilia Munoz director of intergovernmental affairs. Favreau has worked for Obama since 2005, when he joined the president-elect's Senate office as a speechwriter. He later served as director of speechwriting during the presidential campaign, building on his role as deputy director of speechwritng for the 2004 campaign of Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.). At the White House, Favreau will oversee a team of writers who carefully craft words for the president's many public appearances.

Munoz, meanwhile, will oversee the White House office responsible for relations between the administration and state and local governments. The 2000 MacArthur Foundation "genius grant" winner is a senior vice president at the National Council of La Raza, a leading Hispanic civil rights group. There, she has spearheaded many of the organization's immigration initiatives. Currently, she is in charge of the group's entire advocacy and legislative agenda.

"We're continuing to build a White House team that can rise to the challenges facing this country -- and I couldn't be more excited to announce Jon and Cecilia," Obama said. "I'm confident that at a critical time in our history, this White House will restore openness and accountability to our executive branch and help to put government back in the hands of the people it serves."