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Mission and History

Our Mission

Hispanic Federation (HF) is the nation’s premier Latino nonprofit membership organization. Founded in 1990, HF seeks to empower and advance the Hispanic community, support Hispanic families, and strengthen Latino institutions through work in the areas of education, health, immigration, civic engagement, economic empowerment, & the environment.

Who We Are

Hispanic Federation serves as a national model for Latino social, political, and economic empowerment. With a strong presence in New York, Florida, North CarolinaPuerto Rico, and other key states throughout the U.S., HF works to uplift millions of Hispanic children, youth, and families across the country. In addition, our Washington, DC office gives HF a true national advocacy presence. HF works locally, state-wide, and nationally to strengthen Latino nonprofits, promote public policy advocacy, and bring to scale a portfolio of innovative community programs.

  • Membership services fortify HF's grassroots nonprofits through capacity-building grants that support core operational needs, and graduate-level management classes, leadership development trainings, board recruitment and placement, executive fundraising workshops and other technical assistance seminars.
  • Advocacy services are focused on advancing the interests and aspirations of Latinos and their community-based organizations through coalition-building, policy research, public education, advocacy, voter mobilization and more.
  • Community assistance programs are designed to support and uplift children, youth and families through the provision of direct social services in the areas of education, immigration, health care, economic development and the environment.

Why We Are Different

HF’s effectiveness lies in its depth of relationships with Latino communities and strength of connection with grasstops and grassroots stakeholders. These strong bonds with community leaders, media, corporations, and local & national elected officials allow HF to work deeply in communities and pursue systemic change in its issue areas.

Our Impact

What We Do

Below are some in-depth examples of HF’s grassroots/grass tops programs and their effectiveness:

  • Disaster Relief – Mexico and Puerto Rico: HF’s UNIDOS initiative catalyzes long-term recovery in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria through 90+ projects with nonprofit agencies, local foundations, municipal governments, and corporations. In Mexico, HF and Fundación Azteca joined forces to build over 400 homes for affected families after the 2017 earthquakes that devastated Mexico City and other areas.
  • College Success Programs: HF has secured and invested over 4 million of dollars to expand its groundbreaking CREAR Futuros (To Create Futures) Latino college success initiative to 9 universities in four states. Today, CREAR Futuros has grown to help 1,000 Latino students in 8 colleges across four states stay and graduate from college through peer and professional mentoring, leadership development trainings, academic tutoring, internships and social services.
  • Nonprofit Advocacy: HF and a coalition of African American and Asian American leaders has secured over $12 million for the Communities of Color Nonprofit Stabilization Fund (CCNSF). A landmark initiative, it bolsters non-profit capacity in areas such as financial management, board development and outcome evaluation.
  • Public Education:HF launched a multi-state Affordable Care Act (ACA) public education campaign focused on consumer education, health plan enrollment and building the capacity of Latino nonprofits to inform and help Latinos navigate the new health exchanges. More than 200,000 Latino individuals and families were reached during the first two years of the campaign.
  • National Nonpartisan Civic: HF launched Movimiento Hispano, a groundbreaking national civic engagement campaign designed to heighten the impact of the Latino vote in 23 states. HF continues to mobilize communities by partnering with like-minded organizations to increase Latino voter education, registration and turnout in our nonprofit footprint states of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Florida, Georgia, and North Carolina.

Informing Advocacy Priorities: HF’s Policy Leadership Council

Hispanic Federation (HF) is involved in local, state and national advocacy on a whole host of critical action areas. HF works with a Policy Leadership Council made up of esteemed community leaders and advocates from its grassroots nonprofit network to inform and set its advocacy priorities.

These leaders work tirelessly to provide effective services to needy individuals and families in various states and are at the forefront of advocating for the diverse Latino issues and communities they represent.

The Council is tasked with identifying the most pressing issues facing U.S. Latinos and co-developing, with HF senior staff, an advocacy agenda which responds to these urgent needs. Coalitions focused on issues such as immigration, education and health have been established to advance the priorities of the Council.

Nonprofit Network

Hispanic Federation is the largest Latino umbrella organization in the United States with a network of 600+ nonprofits in 42 states and territories. Our network of nonprofits is the foundation on which we build community and make a lasting impact in Latino communities across the country. We are deeply grateful for their deep contributions and continued partnership.

Of these 600+ nonprofits, 133 are formal Hispanic Federation member agencies, who receive a broad range of support and benefits designed to help them meet the growing needs of the Hispanic community. These services include technical assistance, fundraising workshops, and grants for operating support.

To view a full directory of our member agencies, click here.

25+ Years of Taking Hispanic Causes to Heart

  1. A small group of visionary Latino leaders come together to create the Hispanic Federation. (1990)
  2. HF establishes a foothold on Spanish-language radio with its first weekly public affairs show. HF’s public education campaigns have grown to help education millions of Latinos. (1990)
  3. The Latino CORE Initiative is established and grows to become the premier regional Latino grant making program in the nation. (1993)
  4. HF establishes the LUCES coalition to stem the spread of HIV/AIDS in the Latino community, helping to secure millions for Latino HIV Service providers. (1995)
  5. The First Latino Civic Participation Campaign is carried out. More than 350,000 new voters have been registered by HF since then. (1996)
  6. HF spearheads the Latino Funds Collaborative, the first national network of funds promoting Latino philanthropy. HF will lead the transformation of LFC into the National Latino Funds Alliance. (1997)
  7. HF helps launch a campaign to help victims of natural disasters in Latin America. HF has since provided more than $3 million dollars in disaster-relief assistance. (1999)
  8. HF creates the Hispanic Leadership Institute, the first and only college-affiliated management program designed for Latino nonprofit managers. To date, more than 200 Latino leaders have graduated from this cutting-edge program. (1999)
  9. HF starts its facilitated health insurance program to help struggling families obtain free or low-cost health insurance. Over the years this initiative has helped more than 60,000 Latino children and families obtain access to health care. (1999)
  10. The Federation responds to the 9/11 and Flight 587 tragedies by creating an emergency cash-assistance program that distributes more than $2 million to support affected families. (2001)
  11. HF works with Latino Commission on AIDS and its LUCES coalition to create National Latino AIDS Awareness Day (NLAAD). NLAAD grows to become a focus of Latino HIV prevention activites in over 200 cities across the nation. (2003)
  12. The Federation opens its Washington D.C. office to advance the interests and aspirations of Latinos nationwide. (2005)
  13. HF acquires a permanent home in the Financial District and opens it Las Americas Conference Center—the very first Latino nonprofit conference facility in the Northeast. (2006)
  14. HF launches a foreclosure prevention program to help struggling Latino homeowners affected by the nation’s mortgage crisis. (2008)
  15. Pathways to Academic Excellence is launched to promote parental involvement, early childhood literacy and college readiness. (2008)
  16. The Federation goes green by launching an agency-wide effort to galvanize Latinos around environmental justice issues. (2008)
  17. HF launches a historic public education and community mobilization campaign to drive Latino participation in the 2010 Census. (2010)
  18. CREAR Futuros is launched in partnership with the City University of New York to improve Latino college retention and graduation. (2011)
  19. The DREAMers Scholarship Fund is created to assist undocumented youth apply for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). (2012)
  20. Movimiento Hispano is launched in partnership with LULAC and LCLAA to help mobilize hundreds of thousands of Latino voters in 20 states. (2012)
  21. The Federation opens a satellite office in Connecticut to deepen its service and commitment to Latino communities across the state. (2013)
  22. HF partners with LULAC to create Hispanic Immigrant Integration Program (HIIP), its first national immigration service initiative, which helps more than 5,000 Latinos in ten states with immigrant integration assistance. (2014)
  23. HF Helps leads the creation of the first in the nation Nonprofit Stabilization Fund, which provides over 2 million in capacity-building grants to Communities of Color-led nonprofits. (2014)
  24. In order to directly serve Latino communities in the Southeast, the Federation establishes a satellite office in Central Florida. (2015)
  25. Friends of Immigrant Refugee Minors (FIRM) is established as a response to the Unaccompanied Minors crisis. Quarterly events are held to establish a strong sense of community for the children affected by humanitarian crises in Central America. (2015)
  26. HF launches the Proyecto Somos Orlando culturally competent multi-service initiative after the 2016 Pulse Nightclub tragedy in Florida (2016)
  27. HF assembles the Immigrants: We Get the Job Done Coalition comprised of 12 essential multi-ethnic nonprofit organizations that provide life-changing support – legal representation, advocacy and social services – to immigrants, refugees, and asylum-seekers throughout the United States (2017)
  28. HF creates the UNIDOS Puerto Rico Disaster Relief and Recovery Initiative, which helps over 750,000 individuals, and seeds $30 million towards 110 pioneering recovery projects on the island. (2017)

Diversity, Equity, and Inclustion Statement

Hispanic Federation (HF) fights for equity and inclusion in all areas of our work seeking to empower and advance the Hispanic community. Our unique understanding of and commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion is based on the reality that our Hispanic/Latinx community shares a strong cultural bond through our uniquely pan-ethnic and multiracial heritage. Latinos/Latinas/Latinx can be Black, White, Indigenous, Asian, Arab and/or Mestizo, among others, and trace their origins to countries on five continents as well as identify in the LGBTQ+ community, as a veteran or with a disability.

 

HF understands that diversity, equity, and inclusion is required to effectively champion every community we serve. We affirm our commitment to building sustainable, inclusive, and resilient organizations and communities.

 

Our broader view of diversity values all the qualities that make individuals who they are, from race, language, and country of origin to gender identity and to who they love.

 

We recognize that every person brings a special perspective and experience to our mission and progress in advancing the Hispanic community and supporting Latino families across the country.  We want to ensure that every member nonprofit, staff member, advocate, donor, and volunteer has an equal opportunity and role in solving community problems.

 

We commit to putting diversity, equity, and inclusion practices at the center of everything we do. Our differences are our strength, and we’ll look to honor and embrace those differences across all areas of our organization:
  • Our Board of Directors reflects the rich and growing diversity of our community.
  • Our programs are created with cultural awareness and treat all our clients with respect. We seek to engage those impacted by our work to ensure that our programs align with their needs and are inclusive and impactful.
  • We value the diversity of our donors, and welcome open, honest discussion and feedback.
  • Our organizational policies and procedures reflect our commitment to inclusivity and align with our mission, goals, and strategic plan.

HF’s work is focused on dismantling systemic racism and inequities that put our community at a disadvantage, and we are committed to doing that work in full partnership with all underrepresented communities.

Our Offices

Headquarters
Hispanic Federation
55 Exchange Place, 5th Floor
New York, NY 10005

Regional Offices:

Albany, NY Office
Hispanic Federation
90 State Street, Suite 700
Albany, NY 12207

Connecticut Office
Hispanic Federation
175 Main Street
Hartford, CT 06106

Florida Office
Hispanic Federation
1650 Sand Lake Rd Suite 103
Orlando, FL 32809

North Carolina Office
Hispanic Federation
601 E. 5th Street, Suite 330-C
Charlotte, NC 28202

Puerto Rico Office
Hispanic Federation
667 Calle La Paz, Suite 201
San Juan, Puerto Rico 00907

Washington, DC Office
Hispanic Federation
1001 G Street NW, Suite 1120 West
Washington, DC 20001