Jose Calderon
Named President of the Hispanic Federation

On Wednesday, April 11th, the Board of Directors of the Hispanic Federation (HF) unanimously voted to name José Calderón as President of HF.  The appointment is effective immediately.

“We are very pleased with the final decision by the Board of Directors in the selection of José Calderón”, indicated Cristina Schwarz, Chair of the Board. “HF is in strong position with a great reputation and a broad platform from which to continue launching high impact initiatives and advocacy efforts in support of its nearly 100 Latino member agencies across the Northeast.  We are confident in José’s ability to lead HF and continue our expansion. I also want to thank our board member Mario Baeza, who chaired the Search Committee and its members, for the level of integrity and due process in the consideration and selection process”.

The HF Board appointed Mario Baeza to head the Search Committee to identify the fourth president in the history of the Hispanic Federation, one of the leading Latino organizations in the nation. The Committee was assisted and guided by Ms. Emily Gantz McKay of EMG Consulting, LLC in managing the process for the Board.

Calderón has been with HF for 11 years and was serving as Interim President for nearly the past two months. Previously, he served as the Senior Vice President for Programs and Policy, the second highest-ranking position at the Federation. Calderón has spearheaded critical programs and initiatives during his tenure at the Federation including the recently announced Lumina Foundation grant award, a four year project focused on Latino college retention and the 2011 award-winning Latino anti-homophobia campaign.

“The Hispanic Federation has an amazing 22 year legacy of strengthening Latino nonprofits, developing innovative social programs and being a local and national leader on policy issues affecting our community” said José Calderón. “I have been privileged to be able to contribute to our success over the past decade and look forward to working with our highly committed and gifted board and staff to lead and expand our community reach and impact.”

Calderón replaces Lillian Rodríguez López who accepted an executive position at The Coca Cola Company in January after a successful seven year tenure as President and 16 year history with the organization.