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Latino Board Leadership Academy

Hispanic philanthropy is driven by a sense of connection to la Comunidad-- a network of friends, neighbors, and the broader Hispanic community. A study conducted by the Hispanic Foundation found Latinos greatly under-report their volunteer activity. For Hispanics who volunteered, the number of hours spent volunteering each month was highest among all ethnic groups studied. However, Latinos do not yet have a leadership role in the region’s nonprofit and philanthropic sectors.

To address the leadership gap and to better understand the level of Latino board leadership needs of Silicon Valley nonprofits, HFSV has been working with professional associations and nonprofit leaders. While 85% of organizations who participated in a survey indicated that their organizations want greater Hispanic representation on their boards, 65% reported difficulty in recruiting from this segment of the population.

The HFSV has been working with professional associations and nonprofit leaders to develop a comprehensive program designed to recruit and train Latinos to serve as potential board members, place them on the boards of non-profit organizations whose missions best match their personal interests, and conduct follow-up to ensure that placements meet the needs of the new Latino trustees and organizations whose boards they join. The focus on Latino professionals, combined with the purposeful implementation of comprehensive follow-up, differentiates the Latino Board Leadership Academy from other outstanding community leadership development initiatives.