Our History

1990

In 1990, a small group of visionary Latino leaders came together to create the Hispanic Federation of New York. That same year, HF established a foothold on Spanish-language radio with its first weekly public affairs show and our public education campaigns have grown to help educate millions of Latinos.

• 1993: The Latino CORE Initiative is established and grows to become the premier regional Latino grant making program in the nation.
• 1995: HF established the LUCES coalition to stem the spread of HIV/AIDS in the Latino community, helping to secure millions for Latino HIV Service providers.
• 1996: The First Latino Civic Participation Campaign is carried out. More than 350,000 new voters have been registered by HF since then.
• 1997: HF spearheaded 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.

1999

In 1999, HF launched a campaign to help victims of natural disasters in Latin America. That same year, HF created the Hispanic Leadership Institute, the first and only college-affiliated management program designed for Latino nonprofit managers.

• 1999: HF started 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.
• 2001: 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.
• 2003: 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 activities in over 200 cities across the nation.
• 2005: The Federation opens its Washington D.C. office to advance the interests and aspirations of Latinos nationwide.

2006

In 2006, 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.

2008

In 2008, HF launches a foreclosure prevention program to help struggling Latino homeowners affected by the nation’s mortgage crisis. HF also launched the Pathways to Academic Excellence initiative to promote parental involvement, early childhood literacy and college readiness.

• 2008: The Federation goes green by launching an agency-wide effort to galvanize Latinos around environmental justice issues.
• 2010: HF launches a historic public education and community mobilization campaign to drive Latino participation in the 2010 Census.
• 2011: CREAR Futuros is launched in partnership with the City University of New York to improve Latino college retention and graduation.

2012

In 2012, Movimiento Hispano is launched in partnership with LULAC and LCLAA to help mobilize hundreds of thousands of Latino voters in 20 states.

• 2012: The DREAMers Scholarship Fund is created to assist undocumented youth apply for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).

• 2013: The Federation opens a satellite office in Connecticut to deepen its service and commitment to Latino communities across the state.
• 2014: 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: 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.
• 2015: In order to directly serve Latino communities in the Southeast, the Federation establishes a satellite office in Central Florida.
• 2015: 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.
• 2016: HF launches the Proyecto Somos Orlando culturally competent multi-service initiative after the 2016 Pulse Nightclub tragedy in Florida.

2017

In 2017, 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: 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.
• 2018: Hispanic Federation officially opens its satellite office in Puerto Rico. HF also launches the Take Action for Puerto Rico! campaign to bring together people and organizations take action around four critical pillars for Puerto Rico’s recovery: empowered citizenship, health care equity, climate change preparedness, and economic redevelopment

2020

In 2020, HF created the most far-reaching Latino Covid-19 relief effort in the nation partnering with over 250 community nonprofits. Hispanic Federation also reached and encouraged 7 million Latinos to participate in the U.S. Census.

• 2022: Hispanic Federation launched the Advance Change Together (ACT) Initiative, a Latinx LGBTQ+ advocacy and capacity building initiative that empowers and supports organizations working on the front lines to protect and serve Latinx LGBTQ+ communities.
• 2022: Hispanic Federation also opened up a Mid-West regional office in Chicago, Illinois to continue growing our reach within Latino communities nationwide.
• 2022: Hispanic Federation established an emergency relief fund to support local organizations in the Dominican Republic that were providing life-saving assistance to community members most affected by Hurricane Fiona.
• 2022: HF received a historic $44,299,586 federal grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to administer the Farm and Food Workers Relief Grant Program to ensure farmworkers and meatpacking workers who incurred pandemic-related health and safety costs receive a $600 relief payment.