Latinos Unite as Role Models to Inspire Our Future Leaders
Latinos unite as role models to inspire our future leaders
Nonprofit organization HISPA celebrates 15 years of service at Role Model Program Kick-Off and Recruiting Event
From September 15 to October 15, the United States celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month and the histories, cultures, and contributions of Hispanic Americans. Nonprofit organization HISPA will celebrate this occasion—and embark on its 15th year of educational programming—during its hybrid HISPA Role Model Program Kick-Off and Recruiting Event.
Since 2007, over 3,000 HISPA volunteers have shared and celebrated their heritage in classrooms and beyond, showing young Latinos that they too can achieve their dreams. Inspired by their spirit and this year’s Hispanic Heritage Month observance theme, HISPA’s Kick-Off and Recruiting Event is themed “UNIDOS: Inspiring Latino Students for a Stronger Nation”.
This hybrid event will unite HISPA Role Models from across the U.S. to support students in New Jersey, Florida, Texas, New York, and Pennsylvania. HISPA invites guests to celebrate and learn more about the organization at Montclair State University on September 29, 2022, at 6 p.m. Eastern Time. Guests may also attend virtually. Together, HISPA aims to make a record 500 HISPA Role Model visits during the 2022-23 academic year.
HISPA is excited to welcome several esteemed speakers to the event, including pre-recorded remarks by Dr. Miguel Cardona (Secretary of Education, U.S. Department of Education) and 2021 National Teacher of the Year Juliana Urtubey, in-person remarks by Dr. Jorge L. Valdes (Education Program Advisor, Office of Education and Outreach at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office) and NJ Governor’s Hispanic Fellows alumnus William Martinez, and live virtual remarks by Alicia Baturoni Cortez (STEM Engagement Embed to Human Spaceflight, Exploration Development and Space Operations Mission Directorate at NASA).
HISPA would like to thank Montclair State University for hosting this event and Dr. Katia Paz Goldfarb, Associate Provost for Hispanic Initiatives and International Programs, for serving as a great ambassador of HISPA’s mission.
“As we get ready to start year 15 of connecting Latinos from the public and private sector with our youth, our great sense of urgency continues,” said HISPA Founder and CEO Dr. Ivonne Diaz-Claisse. “As Latino student enrollment grows, more schools are reaching out for our services. Validating Latino students’ dreams by showing them the many pathways forward is a priority for a stronger nation.”
HISPA would also like to thank those who make HISPA’s work possible: Founding Partners Verizon and Visa; Co-founding Partners and Supporters Merck, the U.S. Navy, Bristol Myers Squibb, Victoria’s Secret & Co., and Bloomberg; and Annual Partners PSEG and Educational Testing Service.
Registration is open—commit to inspiring Latino students to discover their potential, embrace education, and achieve success! To register, visit hispakickoff.org.
For more information about HISPA, visit www.hispa.org.
HISPA will expand its outreach in Miami with the support of Visa Foundation and Visa volunteers
Miami, Florida, August 2, 2022 – Today, HISPA announced a $250,000 grant from Visa Foundation to inspire Latino students to discover their potential and ignite their desire to embrace education and achieve success.
HISPA programs unite Latino professionals with students in predominantly low-income, public middle school classrooms to serve as positive examples for our youth and encourage student success. HISPA Role Models emphasize the importance of higher education and introduce potential future careers. Visa Foundation funding will specifically support the expansion of HISPA programs in Miami, Florida.
The grant is a part of the Visa Foundation Gives program, a multi-year initiative launched in 2022 dedicated to addressing local social issues in the communities surrounding Visa’s global offices. The initiative will also enable Visa employees to volunteer with HISPA to further advance its mission and amplify their impact in the community.
“HISPA has worked closely with Visa employees in Miami for the last five years, and their commitment and passion to giving back is truly extraordinary,” said Dr. Ivonne Díaz-Claisse, HISPA Founder and CEO. “With this grant, we will be able to reach many more students, validating their dreams and showing them the many pathways to higher education and high-skill careers. Organizations like Visa, that understand the urgency of our work allow HISPA to make our mission a reality.”
Visa and Visa Foundation are committed to supporting inclusive economies where individuals, businesses, and communities can thrive.
“Youth education and empowerment are key to building thriving communities,” commented Graham Macmillan, President, Visa Foundation. “We are proud to support HISPA in its efforts to uplift students in Miami and across the U.S., helping to create a brighter and more inclusive future for our youth,” he concluded.
For more information about HISPA, visit www.hispa.org and follow them on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter at @HISPAteam.
To learn more about the latest grants, partnerships, programs, and events from Visa and Visa Foundation, visit: Visa.com and visafoundation.org
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About HISPA
HISPA’s mission is to inspire Latino students to discover their potential and ignite their desire to embrace education and achieve success. Since 2007, HISPA has expanded from New Jersey to Texas, New York, Florida, and Pennsylvania and has reached over 22,000 students. In 2020, HISPA was recognized with the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring—the highest national STEM mentoring award bestowed by the White House. Annual support for HISPA is provided by Founding Partners Verizon and Visa, Co-founding Partners and Supporters Merck, the U.S. Navy, Victoria’s Secret & Co., and Bristol Myers Squibb, and Annual Partners Bloomberg, ETS, and PSEG.
HISPA Media Contact
Kelly Grossman
kelly@hispa.org
Impacto Latino, the newspaper established in 1967 to serve the Latino community in New York and the United States, featured HISPA’s recognition with the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring, the highest national mentoring award bestowed by the White House.
You may read it below, or visit: https://impactolatino.com/hispa-recibe-el-premio-presidencial-stem/.
HISPA recibe el Premio Presidencial STEM
La organización hispana sin fines de lucro HISPA fue reconocida con el premio más alto otorgado por el gobierno de los EE. UU..
Establecido en 1995, el premio presidencial (PAEMST) honra la excelencia en mentoria en las areas de Ciencias, Technologia, Ingeniería y Matemáticas (STEM).
Lo que reconoció a HISPA, (Hispanos que Inspiran el Desempeño y los Logros de los Estudiantes) por su trabajo duro y dedicación para expandir el talento de grupos históricamente subrepresentados en el campo STEAM, en el que jóvenes latinos también se han visto menos favorecidos.
“El Premio Presidencial representa la oportunidad para que HISPA reconozca a miles de personas, (nuestros modelos a seguir de HISPA), quienes han entrado en los salones de clase, y quienes con sus historias han inspirado a los estudiantes latinos a descubrir su potencial”, dijo la presidenta y directora ejecutiva de HISPA, Dra. Ivonne Díaz -Claisse.
Dra. Díaz-Claisse, es la fundadora de la organización precisamente inspirada tras propiamente haver enfrentado obstáculos al buscar obtener su Ph.D. en matemáticas como latina. Ella dijo que los maestros dudaban de su capacidad y la desanimaban para obtener su título.
Posteriormente encontró un modelo a seguir en un profesor puertorriqueño que había obtenido su Ph.D. en matemáticas en los EE. UU. quien la inspiro para poder alcanzarlo.
Su misión quedó clara: la juventud hispana no podía aspirar a algo que no veía. Por lo que fundó HISPA con un enfoque especial en las materias STEM para abordar esta necesidad con mentores calificados que dan apoyo a los jóvenes e ingreso a estos ámbitos.
“Este premio significa que HISPA puede celebrar y honrar a los mentores que han invitado a nuestros jóvenes a sus corporaciones y universidades, liderando recorridos por laboratorios y talleres a su vez han encendido los deseos de los estudiantes de adoptar la educación STEM y lograr el éxito académico y profesional” añadió.
Hasta la fecha, HISPA, con un campo en Nueva York ha crecido de 100 a 3,000 mentores HISPA y ha realizado más de 1,500 sesiones del programas de modelos a seguir, 30 conferencias de jóvenes y muchas visitas corporativas, para allegarse y atender a más de 15,500 estudiantes hispano hablantes.
Con el alto reconocimiento los premiados de este año servirán como líderes en el esfuerzo nacional para desarrollar plenamente los recursos humanos de la nación en las materias STEM.
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.
PRINCETON, NEW JERSEY—Nonprofit Hispanics Inspiring Students’ Performance and Achievement (HISPA) will bring 150 middle-school students from Philadelphia, Trenton, and Camden for its 26th Youth Conference and first at Rutgers University–Camden. Alongside approximately 70 volunteers—mostly Hispanic and Latino professionals from regional companies representing careers in academia and business, as well as science, technology, engineering and math (STEM)—students will enjoy a full day of hands-on activities and inspirational stories. For many students, it will be their first time on a university campus.
Founded in 2007, New Jersey-based nonprofit HISPA is dedicated to mobilizing Hispanic and Latino role models to show students that they, too, can succeed academically and professionally. HISPA has worked with over 2,500 mentors and has reached some 11,000 students in New Jersey, New York City, Florida and San Antonio, Texas.
The conference, themed “Take Action! Achieve Your Dreams,” is hosted by Educational Testing Service (ETS) and Rutgers–Camden. It will emphasize the importance of high school to future success, excite students about college life, and engage students’ exploration of STEM field and careers. HISPA has held 25 Youth Conferences to date, including at Princeton University in Princeton and Columbia University in New York City.
Students will hear from the Mayor of Camden, Francisco Moran, New Jersey State Senator Nilsa Pérez-Cruz, and Merck executive Carlos Santiago, who will serve as keynote speaker. Telemundo62 reporter Iris Delgado and motivational speaker Carlos Ojeda will deliver inspirational addresses and several Rutgers University–Camden leaders will offer remarks, including Chancellor Phoebe A. Haddon, Provost Michael Palis, and Vice Chancellor Jason Rivera. College students from Rutgers–Camden and University of Pennsylvania Society of Professional Engineers (SHPE) will also answer student questions.
They will also participate in hands-on STEM-focused workshops. This year, students can choose to learn about assessment technologies with ETS, chemiluminescence with Merck and Merck Hispanos Organization (MHO), finance with Wells Fargo, pharmaceutical lab procedure with Bristol-Myers Squibb and the Organization for Latino Achievement (OLA), neuroscience with Rutgers University–Camden, and coding with Code Equal.
This year’s conference is hosted by Rutgers University–Camden and ETS with lead sponsor Wells Fargo, sponsors Bristol-Myers Squibb and Merck, and collaborator Comcast. 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.
El Diario has recently covered HISPA’s March 15 Youth Conference at Columbia University.
Written by Carmen Molina Tamacas, the article was released April 2. You can read it in Spanish here: https://eldiariony.com/2019/04/02/estudiantes-latinos-pueden-sonar-con-las-carreras-stem/.
You can also view photos from the event here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/76356429@N02/albums/72157679426443968.
HISPA Invites Latino Students to Dream of STEM Columbia SHPE Hosts HISPA’s 25th Youth Conference Princeton, NJ, March 11, 2019 — Hispanics Inspiring Students’ Performance and Achievement and Columbia Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (Columbia SHPE) will bring 150 Hispanic middle and high school students to Columbia University on March 15 for a day-long […]
Hispanic Role Models Commit to Inspiring Student Achievement
HISPA Celebrates Historic Kick Off with Hosts Prudential and Hispanic Heritage Network
Princeton, N.J. – Nonprofit HISPA (Hispanics Inspiring Students’ Performance and Achievement), Prudential and Hispanic Heritage Network (HHN), the company’s Hispanic-serving Business Resource Group, will host a diverse group of employees to kick off a new academic year of role model programs for New Jersey youth. Also in partnership with Wells Fargo Latin Team Member Network and Latino Networks Coalition, the annual HISPA Role Model Program Kick-Off and Recruiting Event, themed “With the Endless Power of Our Voices,” will be held September 12 at 5:30 p.m. at Prudential in Newark, N.J.
HISPA mobilizes Latino professionals to visit local classrooms, share their stories, and introduce students to college and career opportunities. This event will bring together more than 200 such professionals dedicated to inspiring Hispanic youth to achieve their full potential.
“Prudential’s role in piloting this program is to help one of the fastest growing populations in America find professional role models,” said Joe Hayes, Vice President and Chief Information Officer of Prudential Group Insurance. “We are proud to host the HISPA event and support programming that connects Hispanic youth to unique opportunities for growth, putting them on a pathway to long-term, sustainable success and helping them achieve financial wellness.”
HISPA’s first Kick-Off was held ten years ago, shortly after the idea for HISPA first began when the organization’s now-CEO, Dr. Ivonne Diaz-Claisse, stepped into a Newark classroom. She saw so many young Hispanic students who reminded her of herself as a child and was moved to share the obstacles she faced growing up in Puerto Rico. As a girl with a passion for math, teachers doubted her ability and discouraged her from pursuing an advanced degree. She found a role model in a Puerto Rican professor who had earned his Ph.D. in mathematics in the U.S. Inspired, she went on to do the same.
After speaking, a young Latina approached her and said, “Now I know I can pursue a Ph.D., too.” Diaz-Claisse realized that Hispanic youth could not aspire to something they didn’t see. She left her ten-year career behind to lead HISPA.
HISPA has since made 984 classroom visits and reached more than 10,000 students. The Kick-Off event will continue HISPA’s movement to share 20,000 stories by year 2020, an effort that continues forward because of recent funding from Wells Fargo, Investors Bank, the Center for Hispanic Policy, Research and Development, and Southwest Airlines, HISPA’s official airline partner.
“I am in awe of what we have been able to accomplish since our first Kick-Off in 2008,” said Diaz-Claisse. “I began with the goal of recruiting 100 role models and today we have more than 2,500. I am honored to work with such accomplished volunteers and am excited to welcome more Hispanic professionals dedicated to inspiring the next generation.”
For more details or to register to attend, visit: https://2018-nj-kickoff.eventbrite.com
For more information about HISPA, visit www.hispa.org.
The 2018 NJ Governor’s Hispanic Fellows Have a Great Start
Princeton, NJ, June 8, 2018 — “I learned many life lessons that I will take with me forever, but besides that I finally had a feeling in my heart that my dreams could come true.”
Ana Olivera, a sophomore at Rutgers University – Newark, is reflecting on her first day as a Fellow in the New Jersey Governor’s Hispanic Fellows Program. The program successfully launched on Friday, June 1, with Educational Testing Service (ETS) Center for Advocacy and Philanthropy (CAAP) hosting the Fellows’ Class of 2018 at its Princeton headquarters.
Sponsored by the State of New Jersey and overseen by the Center for Hispanic Policy, Research and Development (CHPRD), the Governor’s Hispanic Fellows Program is a competitive, eight-week summer program that recruits 20 Hispanic and Latino college students from across New Jersey. These Fellows are then placed in internships with partnering organizations from public and private sectors. They also participate in weekly workshops coordinated by the nonprofit organization Hispanics Inspiring Students’ Performance and Achievement (HISPA) to build professional networks and foster leadership skills key to lifelong success. In addition to ETS, this year’s host organizations include Princeton University, AT&T, UPS, Wells Fargo, CHPRD, Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, and Bristol-Myers Squibb.
Several State of New Jersey senior staff members took part in the kick-off: Secretary of State Tahesha Way, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Tiffany Williams, and Director of the Center for Hispanic Policy, Research and Development Sara Peña. Scott Nelson, ETS Senior Vice President of Strategy, Marketing & Growth and Chief Marketing Officer, and Lenora Green, Executive Director of CAAP, provided special remarks.
Jeffrey Vega, President and CEO of the Princeton Area Community Foundation, served as keynote speaker. Vega himself graduated from the Governor’s Hispanic Fellows Program in 1989. The program began 30 years ago to address the unique challenges Hispanic and Latino college students can face, including a lack of professional and leadership development opportunities, career networks and role models.
In addition to HISPA President and CEO Dr. Ivonne Díaz-Claisse’s testimony to what is possible with tenacity and higher education, the day concluded with workshops with career strategist and corporate trainer Rod Colón and leadership development coach Jeanette Iglesias.
“Those two workshops really challenged me to…learn about myself, my strengths and weaknesses, how to be proud of my background, and to be confident in what I say and what I do,” said Fellow Jasmine Burgos, a Rowan University student.
The Governor’s Hispanic Fellows Program will continue its collaboration with HISPA on Friday, June 8. The Fellows will participate in the ‘Latinos in College’ Track of the HISPA Youth Conference, in partnership with the Graduate School at Princeton University and co-hosted by AT&T. The full-day conference will include corporate, academic, government and nonprofit speakers as well as a panel of graduate students. In addition to providing the Fellows an opportunity to share their stories as role models to New Jersey youth, this and future workshops will provide exceptional opportunities for leadership development and to build a network of mentors.
LATINO YOUTHS GET INSPIRED TO LEAD
Annual Conference at Princeton U. has STEM Focus
Princeton, NJ, June 8, 2018 — More than 150 Hispanic middle and high school students will convene at Princeton University on June 8 for a day-long STEM-focused educational conference. It will be the 10th annual conference that Hispanics Inspiring Students’ Performance and Achievement (HISPA) has held at Princeton University and will bring students from Camden, Elizabeth, Hamilton, Perth Amboy and Summit. For many students, it will be their first time on a university campus.
Founded in 2007, New Jersey-based nonprofit HISPA is dedicated to mobilizing Hispanic and Latino 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 10,000 students in New Jersey, New York City, Florida and San Antonio, Texas.
The conference, themed “Take Action! Achieve Your Dreams,” brings middle and high school students to Princeton to explore STEM careers alongside more than 70 role models, experts in academia, business, science, technology, engineering and math. HISPA has held 24 Youth Conferences to date, including at Columbia University in New York and St. Mary’s University in Texas.
Students will hear from such accomplished professionals like keynote speaker NASA’s Jackelynne Silva-Martinez, who works in ISS and Orion mission planning. They will also participate in hands-on STEM-focused workshops. This year, students can choose to explore the Internet of Things (with AT&T), produce “medicine” according to pharmaceutical lab procedure (with Bristol-Myers Squibb), or participate in any of eight workshops presented by Educational Testing Service (ETS), Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, PSEG, Prudential and Verizon.
“It is an honor to be celebrating our 24th Youth Conference, and our 10th at Princeton University,” said HISPA President and CEO Dr. Ivonne Diaz-Claisse. “I am proud and grateful to celebrate this milestone with the volunteers and supporters who make HISPA’s work possible everyday.”
This year’s conference is co-sponsored by the Office of Human Resources at Princeton University and co-hosted by Verizon, with the support of Comcast, the Lead Sponsor. Sponsors are Bristol-Myers Squibb, ETS, Grainger, Merck and PSEG. Collaborators are the Office of the Provost at Princeton University, UPS and Crecer, and Wells Fargo. HISPA’s Annual Partners are AT&T, Comcast, ESPN, ETS, the PSEG Foundation, Visa and Southwest Airlines, HISPA’s official airline partner.