“This year’s convention has been crafted to address specific issues that pertain to Latinos,” said the vice chair of the 2022 PA Latino Convention and former Bethlehem City Councilwoman Olga Negron.

The fifth annual PA Latino Convention, held in Allentown Sept. 28 through Oct. 1, was hosted by the Renaissance Hotel at 7th Street and Hamilton Boulevard.

Negron named education, health, economic development, civic engagement, leadership, diversity and inclusion as principal topics to be addressed during the convention.

“The Latino community in our commonwealth continues to grow and thrive,” Negron said. “The PA Latino Convention provides an opportunity across the commonwealth for engaging and empowering Latino. Con la fuerza de un millon! [One million strong!]”

Negron also announced the launch of the Guillermo Lopez Diversity and Equity Institute, which is devoted to the topics of diversity, equity and inclusion.

A series of speakers followed Negron’s opening remarks.

“We have the best health care, but what good is it if you don’t have access to it?” asked Dr. Leonardo Claros, a keynote speaker addressing health care equity within the Latino community. Claros is the section chief of Bariatric Surgery and medical director for the Weight Management Center at St. Luke’s University Health Network.

Other speakers included Dr. Raffy Luquis, professor of biobehavioral health at the School of Biobehavioral Science and Education at Penn State/Harrisburg, and Dr. Jose Ramon Torrada, emergency physician and bilingual health educator.

“The world has changed a lot in the past few years, but the fundamentals remain,” said Convention Chair and Chief Diversity Officer for the PA Department of Community and Economic Development Norman Bristol Colon writing in the convention’s program.

“And the future is bright for the Latino community of our state and nation,” Colon continued. “Use these couple of days to learn and build. Building today and planning of the future – that’s what we do.”

According to Colon, the U.S. Latino population in 2020 reached 62.1 million. That includes 3.5 million U.S. citizens in the island of Puerto Rico. Hispanics or Latinos today make up one in five people in the United States.

This population growth of Latinos accounted for 51 percent of the country’s total growth in the last 10 years.

He said the Latino or Hispanic market in the U. S. is the largest minority market and that it continues to expand.

According to Colon, Latino spending power has grown $1.9 trillion in 2020, from 13 percent in 2021 to 18 percent in 2022.

He said the drop out rate of Latino students has declined and that the number of Latinos enrolling in postsecondary education has risen. Colon said the number of Latinos with a bachelor’s degree or more in education increased from 13 percent in 2021 to 18 percent in 2020.

According to Colon, more that 32 million Latinos are eligible to vote, making this the largest ethnic voting bloc for the first time.

“The state of the Latino Community is strong and promising!” Colon said.