Latinos Unite at Princeton University to Inspire Future Leaders
Princeton, NJ, June 4, 2019 — More than 150 New Jersey students will attend a unique motivational and career-focused conference at Princeton University on June 7. This will be nonprofit Hispanics Inspiring Students’ Performance and Achievement’s 11th such youth conference. In addition to its traditional focus on middle and high school students, HISPA will also provide a program track for Latinos in college.
The Youth Conference, themed “Take Action! Achieve your Dreams,” will inspire the 7th, 8th, and 9th grade students from Elizabeth, Passaic, Trenton, Hamilton, and Perth Amboy thanks to more than 75 professionals. These leaders in academia, business, science, technology, engineering and math will stress the importance of education and introduce students to STEM careers with hands-on workshops in pharmaceuticals, electromagentism, and more. For many students, it will be their first time on a university campus.
The “Latinos in College” track of the conference will introduce university students to diverse careers and help them build professional networks. Among the participants are the Class of 2019 of the New Jersey Governor’s Hispanic Fellows Program, who will also answer the younger students’ questions about college life.
Attendees will hear from keynoter Dr. Dan-el Padilla Peralta, Assistant Professor of Classics at Princeton University, motivational speaker Gian Paul González and many leaders in other fields.
“We are extremely grateful to the public and private sector leaders who have joined our mission,” said Dr. Díaz-Claisse. “They understand the urgency of supporting Latino students to achieve and succeed in higher education and the impact their success will have on the future of America.”
Founded in 2007, New Jersey-based nonprofit HISPA is dedicated to mobilizing Hispanic role models to show students that they, too, can succeed academically and professionally. HISPA has worked with over 2,500 mentors and has reached more than 11,000 students in New Jersey, New York City, Florida and San Antonio, Texas.
This conference, HISPA’s 28th to date, is co-sponsored by the Office of Human Resources at Princeton University with the support of Lead Sponsors Novartis, Merck and Merck Hispanos Organization (MHO), and Wells Fargo. Sponsors are ETS, Bristol-Myers Squibb and its Organization for Latino Achievement (OLA), and PSEG and its Adelante employee resource group. Collaborators are Comcast, the Office of the Provost at Princeton University, UPS and its Crecer employee resource group.
The Latinos in College track is made possible by a partnership with the Office of Human Resources and the Graduate School of Princeton University, Latino Princetonians and CHPRD, and, co-hosted by AT&T.
HISPA’s educational programs are made possible by Co-founding Partner the Verizon Foundation. Annual Partners are Educational Testing Service, the PSEG Foundation, Visa and Southwest Airlines, HISPA’s official airline partner. Annual Supporters are Merck and Wells Fargo.