More than 100 prominent civic, community and business leaders gather in Lower Manhattan for a historic ribbon-cutting ceremony to inaugurate the Hispanic Federation’s new Las Americas Conference Center and headquarters.

1989
United Way of New York City commissions a concept paper about the creation of a Hispanic umbrella organization of social service agencies.

1990
A group of Latino leaders create the Hispanic Federation of New York City with six member agencies. Luis A. Miranda, Jr. is appointed as its first President. The Federation eventually expands to serve all of New York State, New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania, and its membership grows to 100 strong. HF establishes weekly public affairs show on Spanish-language radio to highlight Latino issues of the day, and programs and services available through the Federation and its member agencies. Today, the Federation produces more than 150 public affairs radio shows a year for New York’s three major Spanish-language FM radio stations.

1991
We launch our Christmas Miracle Toy Drive to ensure that vulnerable children in the region receive a gift during the holiday season. HF has distributed nearly 200,000 books and toys to underprivileged children in the Tri-State area.  

1993
The Latino CORE Initiative is established and grows to become the premier regional Latino grantmaking program in the nation. More than 20 million dollars have been granted to Latino nonprofits through CORE and other HF programs. We conduct the first and most comprehensive opinion poll of NYC Hispanics. HF’s annual polls grow to become an authoritative voice on Latino New Yorkers and help institutions and policymakers gain a deeper understanding of Latino views on a range of social matters and public policy issues.

1995
HF establishes the LUCES coalition to promote collective action to stem the spread of HIV/AIDS in the Latino community. LUCES helps secure millions of dollars for Latino HIV service providers and creates multiple prevention campaigns that help tens of thousands take the HIV test, learn about HIV transmission risks, and obtain treatment and care.  We launch an Immigrant Assistance Collaborative to help Latino immigrants learn English, become citizens and more fully integrate into American society. The program has served over 30,000 immigrants since its inception. The Federation partners with Somos El Futuro Foundation to assist in organizing the annual conference of the New York State Puerto Rican/Hispanic Legislative Task Force - the largest gathering of Hispanics in our region. HF recently completed organizing its 15th Annual Somos Legislative Conference.

1996
The First Statewide Latino Civic Participation Campaign is carried out. More than 250,000 new voters have been registered by the Federation since that time.

1997
HF spearheads the Latino Funds Collaborative, the first national network of funds promoting Latino philanthropy. The Kellogg Foundation honors the Federation with its Leadership in Action Award in 2005 for its pioneering work in the area of Latino philanthropy.  In the last three years, the National Latino Funds Alliance has raised over $1.2 million in donations for their individual Funds.

1998
After eight incredible years of institution and community-building, Luis A. Miranda, Jr., steps down and Lorraine Cortés-Vázquez becomes the new Federation President.

1999
HF launches “Ayuda a los Pueblos,” a disaster relief campaign to help victims of natural disasters in Latin America. This campaign has provided more than 3 million dollars in disaster-relief assistance to affected countries in the Caribbean and Central and South America. HF creates the Hispanic Leadership Institute, the first and only college-affiliated management program designed for Latino nonprofit managers. To date, more than 165 Latino leaders have graduated from this cutting-edge professional development program.  We launch our facilitated health insurance program to help struggling families obtain free or low-cost health insurance.  Over the past decade this initiative has helped 15,000 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 and clearinghouse for disaster-relief assistance services. HF distributes more than 2 million dollars to support families affected by these two tragedies. HF also secures a ruling from the Justice Department that allows undocumented immigrants to receive benefits from the September 11th Compensation Fund.

2003
HF works with Latino Commission on AIDS and its LUCES coalition to create and organize the first National Latino AIDS Awareness Day (NLAAD). Now in its seventh year of existence, NLAAD has grown to become a focus of Latino HIV prevention activities in over 200 cities across the nation.

2004
The Federation opens a Washington D.C. office.  HF’s national advocacy has grown dramatically in a relatively short period of time.  HF’s President now chairs the National Hispanic Leadership Agenda, a coalition of the 30 leading civil rights and advocacy organizations in the nation. And this past year alone we played a leading role in advocating for the successful confirmation of Justice Sonia Sotomayor and ensuring that Latino health disparities were addressed in the recently passed health care bill. Lorraine passes the baton to Lillian Rodríguez López, who continues the Federation’s march forward.

2005
We’re 15 and celebrate by convening the first Hispanic Education Summit in New York City. This Summit and future HF conferences lead to the development of two policy research reports that help create a renewed focus on community-centered learning, reducing class sizes and improving parental involvement.  HF’s model Pathways to Academic Excellence curriculum also develops out of this effort. The Long Island Hispanic Coalition is created to help bring the Federation’s Nassau and Suffolk County agencies together to promote a common agenda that addresses the needs of Latinos on Long Island. The Coalition goes on to help develop an island-wide agenda for civic engagement and creates Somos Long Island – the first Hispanic public policy conference on Long Island, which now convenes more than 1000 participants annually.   

2006
HF reaches a milestone with the acquisition of permanent office space in downtown, New York City and the opening of its Las Americas Conference Center – the very first Latino non-profit conference facility in the Northeast.  Las Americas has grown to become a dynamic hub for policy briefings, press conferences, receptions, trainings, meetings and cultural events. More than 175 such activities took place last year alone.

2008
We launch a foreclosure prevention program to help struggling Latino homeowners affected by the nation’s mortgage crisis. More than 500 Latino individuals and families have been provided vital counseling on how to restructure their mortgages, get out of debt and avert foreclosure. Pathways to Academic Excellence is launched to promote parental involvement, early literacy as a central focus of family activity, and ensure Latino youth are college-focused and ready. Over 400 parents and families have completed our Pathways series to date. Perhaps more importantly, the curriculum is now being used to train hundreds of board of education parent coordinators in school districts throughout New York City.

2010
The Federation presents a briefing to discuss the impact of climate change on Latino communities and how Latino nonprofits can play an increasingly critical role in galvanizing Latinos around the greening of our planet and environmental justice issues. HF has taken charge in an agency-wide greening initiative that includes a state-of-the-art Silver LEED headquarters and conference center, the use of biodegradable products, aggressive recycling efforts and a shift to electronic newsletters.

HF partners with its member agencies to launch historic public education and community mobilization campaign to drive Latino participation in the 2010 Census. Since the start of the year we have trained hundreds of census leaders within our agencies, established 20 Census Leadership Centers, organized multiple press conferences with elected and faith-based leaders, conducted street fairs and canvassing, created a toll-free census hotline, and carried out an aggressive multi-media campaign.

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