PEOPLE

* Ana Barbosa said she often hears companies claim that they “can’t find qualified Hispanics,” yet she is around such individuals all the time. Now, as president of the 1,000-member Latin Business Assn., she is working to change misperceptions of Latino professionals. Barbosa, 40, seeks to promote Latino entrepreneurs through activities such as LBA’s annual awards banquet on Friday. A Cal State Los Angeles graduate, Barbosa heads A & M Material Handling and will soon add a McDonald’s franchise to her ventures. Barbosa said she is building successful businesses, in part, “to be a role model for my daughters.” The LBA also provides friendships, she added. “Some members have even become my children’s madrinas (godmothers).”

* Attorney Raul Granados, 45, hopes to see more Latinos emerging from the nation’s law schools. Granados, a Loyola Law School graduate, heads his own legal firm in Los Angeles and recently was installed as president of the 600-member Mexican American Bar Assn. MABA’s mentoring program seeks to get more Latino law students “into the mainstream” of that profession. Although Latinos make up 25% of the state’s population, Granados said fewer than 5% of state’s law students in 1991 were Mexican-American or other Latinos. “(As young Latino lawyers), we didn’t have a wealth of networks or resources in law,” he added.