Creating Access, Opportunity, and Success for Latino Students
In partnership with funders and nonprofits across the U.S., HIP is working to:
Through the Funders’ Collaborative and other funding initiatives, HIP is building the capacity of Latino-led afterschool programs, schools, education reform coalitions, and other education nonprofits. HIP is also leading collaborative initiatives, such as the Puerto Rico Donors’ Education Collaborative, that support innovation and effectiveness in education. HIP also convenes forums, briefings, and virtual forums to facilitate the sharing of resources and best practices among funders working to improve Latino educational success.
North Carolina Triangle for Latino Student Success
In late 2011, with the support of Lumina Foundation for Education, HIP launched a new project to increase Latino college access and completion in North Carolina’s Triangle Region. The program is a partnership between HIP and the Adelante Education Coalition, and seeks to develop a broad collaboration of educational institutions, Latino community organizations, and funders working together to develop systems, services, and policies that increase Latino student success.
Puerto Rico Donors’ Education Collaborative
In 2010, HIP and four funding partners came together to address the poor educational outcomes of students in Puerto Rico. The Collaborative developed a strategy focused on building the capacity of education organizations with a strong track record of success working with the island’s at-risk students. The Collaborative has provided grants and training to help seven successful education organizations improve their capacity to measure and convey their impact, increase their sustainability, and grow to scale.
Funder’s Collaborative for Strong Latino Communities
Through the Funders’ Collaborative for Strong Latino Communities, HIP has provided capacity-building grants and training to more than 140 Latino-led, Latino serving nonprofits in the area of education. For example, El Buen Pastor Latino Community Services, a grantee in the North Carolina, which provides afterschool and summer tutoring programs as well as preschool classes, received funding from HIP to develop and implement a new data system, allowing them to evaluate and measure the outcomes of programs.
Facilitating Funder Dialogue
HIP has convened and participated in dialogues around identifying and developing new philanthropic strategies for increasing Latino educational success. Highlights have included HIP’s 2011 community forum on Latino educational success in Charlotte, North Carolina; and the 2008 Solutions NOW conference on meeting the educational challenges of Hispanic students, co-convened with the Puerto Rico Community Foundation.
Hispanics now account for nearly one in four school-age children in the U.S. In the coming decades, Latinos will make up an increasingly large share of students in school systems across the nation. Making sure that our educational system promotes success for Latino students is not just a concern for Latino families, but for all Americans.
Some statistics on Latinos in Education:
At HIP, we believe that Latino educational outcomes will only improve if we devote time and resources to addressing the unique barriers faced by Latino students.
The National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education has found that “academically qualified Hispanic high school students are often derailed on the road to higher education by low expectations from teachers, poor understanding of the college admissions and financial aid processes, and little adult support.” Other barriers include linguistic access, limited entry for undocumented students, and poverty. Of Latinos who cut their education short during or right after high school, three of four say they did so because they had to support their family.
Despite these barriers, we also believe that Latino students bring unique assets to our nation’s schools. In an increasingly globalized society, Latinos offer multilingual and multicultural backgrounds with the potential both to enrich educational experiences for all students and to make the U.S. economy more competitive over the long term.
As a result of the funder dialogues hosted by HIP and the education initiatives, HIP has identified several promising philanthropic strategies for increasing Latino educational success:
In 2012, HIP hopes to conduct a more detailed assessment around needs and opportunities for improving Latino educational success.
A number of HIP members and partners are working to improve Latino educational success.
- The Hispanic Scholarship Fund provides scholarships for Latino students.
- The Lumina Foundation has identified Latino educational success as essential to its goal of increasing the number of Americans with a college degree, and has taken a leading role in convening funders around the issue.
- HIP’s sister affinity group, the Association of Black Foundation Executives, (ABFE), has stimulated important dialogue around the unique education challenges faced by Black men and boys and, more broadly, males of color.
Education remains a core priority for HIP members across the country, ranging from large national funders such as the Ford Foundation and the Gates Foundation to local foundations such as the Edwin Gould Foundation for Children in New York City and the Bush Foundation in the Midwest.
Providing Leadership
"As a Latino in philanthropy, it helps to meet other professionals dealing with the same challenges that I'm dealing with and to have the opportunity to learn from what they've experienced in the field."
— Edgar Aguirre
Loyola Marymount University
Membership Has Its Benefits
"HIP Membership has enabled me to broaden my reach into communities and to utilize resources I didn't know about before. As a funder, it has been great to associate with and learn from folks with such a depth of understanding about philanthropy and Latino communities."
— Larry Gonzales
The California Endowment
Increasing Diversity
"The field of philanthropy is not very diverse and the needs of the Latino community and Latino professionals in the field are not adequately met. HIP provides members with learning opportunities to increase their professional capacity as well as fun networking activities."
— Obiel A. Leyva
The San Francisco Foundation
Strengthening Our Culture
"The HIP Collaborative has helped in many ways over the past 10 years. It spurred us to recruit the first Latina foundation board member in the state and helped us develop relationships that have led to establishing several funds advised by Latinos. Our association with HIP has helped to strengthen our cultural competence as an organization."
— Tara Sandercock
Community Foundation of Greater Greensboro
A Collaborative Vision
"The philanthropic world is always preaching that collaboration is important. We tell nonprofits that when resources are tight, you must work together--collaborate. The Funders' Collaborative model allows foundations to work together to address the issues affecting our communities."
— Evette Cardona
Polk Bros. Foundation
A Strong Vision
"The chief strength of the Funders' Collaborative is that it is a collaborative process rooted in a single vision--strengthening Latino communities. It allows grantmakers and grantees from all over the country to work together towards that vision."
— Marilda Gandara
Aetna Foundation
A Consistent Vision
"In the late '90s, the HIP board said, 'Getting more Latinos into the field just isn't enough-we need a new strategy for increasing giving to Latinos.' The result was the Funders' Collaborative, which proved incredibly effective — we raised more than $40 million for Latino community-based organizations."
— Diana Campoamor
President of HIP
Shaping Our Future
Our donors have been the backbone of our programs,
providing both financial and in-kind contributions for over 25 years.
Your contribution is a testament to the generosity of our supporters.
We couldn't continue to serve our community without your help.
Thank you for supporting HIP's work.
