When Hispanic Federation was established over 25 years ago, it was the first organization of its kind in New York City: a nonprofit organization made up of Latino grassroots organizations devoted to Latino institution-building and empowerment. A few years after its founding, HF partnered with Latino leaders in seven states to develop a way to apply this founding principle nationally. The Latino Funds Collaborative was created to uplift Latino philanthropies across the country, working together to fundraise and strengthen the Latino presence in the nonprofit sector.
Twenty years later, the Latino Funds Collaborative — which now goes by the National Latino Funds Alliance — is still going strong and just as committed to the shared goal of promoting the success of Latino philanthropies, with the goal of fundraising and giving back to their communities, mostly in the form of grants to Latino-led nonprofits. Hispanic Federation, for its part, has granted over 40 million dollars to its network of community-based organizations over this time.
This past week, the National Latino Funds Alliance (NLFA) convened in Kansas City, Missouri. HF was joined by Hispanic Development Fund in Kansas City, Latino Community Foundation in San Francisco, Nuestro Futuro in Chicago, Latino Community Fund in Washington State and Latino Community Foundation of Colorado. The convening provided members a space to share best practices, engage in fundraising discussions, and determine membership outreach and collaboration strategies. Overall, members emerged reenergized and recommitted to the idea of the critical nature of community revitalization as a means of effecting real change for Latinos. For more information about NLFA, please contact our AVP for Development, Stephen Calenzani.
