UH Hobby School research highlights community importance, human trafficking in Houston, and more on Houston Newsmakers

IN THIS EPISODE:

• Host Khambrel Marshall sits down with the University of Houston's Hobby School of Public Affairs and the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce to identify the importance of Hispanics in our community.
• Human trafficking is a major problem in Houston. The United Against Human Trafficking organization investigates how wide the impact is in the area.

Research shows youth and earning power to power Hispanic community

The Houston Hispanic Chamber of Commerce partnered with the UH Hobby School for Public Affairs to dig deep into the demographics and earning power of the Houston Hispanic community.

“We've hosted CEO breakfasts to talk about this, the census, and other data because it's fact-driven,” said Laura Murillo, Ed.D., President and CEO of the Houston Hispanic Chamber. “These are not opinions. It's information that will help them as they make decisions about hiring, for their investments, for opportunities. That is a win-win situation.”

Jim Granato, Ph.D., Dean of the UH Hobby School of Public Affairs, is usually known for in-depth polling about a variety of political topics and people. This time, the Hobby School teamed up with the Hispanic Chamber to provide a thorough analysis of the impact and potential impact of the Hispanic community.

Dr. Granato says the youth and potential of the community stand out.

“Peak earnings doesn't happen for another 20 years when they're in their mid-60s,” Granato said. “But what you see is this group., This is the population that's coming that's going to drive the future of the city. They're the ones” See research results here:

Human Trafficking affects all of Houston

Human trafficking is a major problem across the world and also in Houston.

Timeka Walker knows this very well and as the CEO of United Against Human Trafficking, she says the only question is how wide is the impact.

“As human trafficking, we talk about sex trafficking and labor trafficking and so when you talk about industries, whether it's domestic servitude, whether is construction,” she said. “When it comes to sex trafficking, whether it's strip clubs or massage parlors, It's a wide issue so when you're trying to pinpoint numbers it's difficult to do that. “

Ken Henry is the Chief Communications officer and says the organization leads a coalition of organizations hoping to make an impact.

“We have nonprofits. We have for profits,” Henry said. “We have survivor leaders themselves. People who have lived experience with human trafficking and so we're engaging daily with them. We have actual programming with our prevention teams going into juvenile halls, going into the schools. Find out how much more this organization does and how you can help, on this week's Houston Newsmakers with Khambrel Marshall.

For more information on this week's Houston Newsmakers

· Laura Murillo, Ed.D. President & CEO, Houston Hispanic Chamber of Commerce

· Website: https://www.houstonhispanicchamber.com/

· Website: https://drlauramurillo.com/

· Jim Granato, Ph.D. Dean, UH Hobby School of Public Affairs

· Website: https://uh.edu/hobby/about/faculty/jim-granato/

· Timeka Walker, CEO United Against Human Trafficking

· Website: https://uaht.org/

· Ken Henry, Chief Communications Officer, United Against Human Trafficking

· Website: https://uaht.org/