April 4, 2017 - Nation’s Leading Hispanic Advocacy Coalition Expands with Six New Organizations As Latinos Face Threats from White House and Congress

THE NATION’S LEADING HISPANIC ADVOCACY COALITION EXPANDS WITH SIX NEW ORGANIZATIONS AS LATINOS FACE THREATS FROM WHITE HOUSE AND CONGRESS
As threats to Latinos grow each day, so too does Latino organizing power

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The National Hispanic Leadership Agenda (NHLA), a coalition of the nation’s preeminent Latino advocacy organizations, today announced six new members of its coalition that span the environmental, civic engagement, cultural, labor, and mental health sectors. This surge in NHLA’s membership follows one of the most anti-Latino election cycles in over half a century. The new members are GreenLatinos, Mi Familia Vota, the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, the National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures, the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, and the National Latina/o Psychological Association. With these new members, NHLA is now comprised of 46 national organizations and is the strongest that it has ever been.

“The six organizations joining the NHLA today represent the incredible strength and diversity of Latino advocacy in this nation. They each bring added expertise and energy that will help expand the reach and power of our coalition. This comes at a critical time as our community faces multiple threats from the Trump administration and Congress, in the form of anti-immigrant and anti-worker policies and appointments, actions that roll back environmental rules necessary for protecting our air and water from contamination, and proposals to slash funding for the arts, health care, and other important services. As threats to Latinos grow each day, so too does Latino organizing power. The voices that are joining our coalition today will help us fight these threats so that we can protect and enhance the well-being of Latinos and the nation as a whole,” said Hector Sanchez Barba, Chair of NHLA and Executive Director of the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement.

“The further strengthening of NHLA through the addition of these new members sends a clear and strong message that Donald Trump’s apparent goal of marginalizing the nation’s largest minority group will not succeed,” said Thomas A. Saenz, NHLA Vice Chair and MALDEF President and General Counsel. “The Latino community will be heard loud and clear in the nation’s capital about preserving our nation’s most essential and unifying values.”

“GreenLatinos is excited to join this important coalition of Latino institutions that serves to elevate the voices of our community on critical policy priorities. We look forward to adding our members’ expertise and advocacy on all of NHLA's priority issues especially issues of the environment, conservation, and natural resources,” said Mark Magaña, Founding President and CEO of GreenLatinos. GreenLatinos is a national network of Latino environmental and conservation advocates committed to addressing national, regional and local environmental, natural resources and conservation issues that significantly affect the health and welfare of the Latino community in the United States.

"Mi Familia Vota is proud to join the National Hispanic Leadership Agenda in 2017, during this crucial fight for justice for Latinos in the United States," Ben Monterroso, Executive Director of Mi Familia Vota. "Like NHLA, Mi Familia Vota believes that justice means that not only do Latinos have a right to live a life of dignity and respect, but they are able to freely exercise that right by removing barriers to civic engagement. We look forward to the work we can accomplish together in the pressing issues affecting Latinos like education, immigration, workers’ rights, health care, and environmental rights.” Mi Familia Vota is a national 501(c)(4) civic engagement organization that advocates on social and economic issues that impact the Latino community, from immigration to workers’ rights.

“NAHJ is a principal source for Hispanic journalists and are leaders in ensuring the accurate representation of Latinos in news. Rejoining the National Hispanic Leadership Agenda coalition provides an instrumental opportunity for NAHJ to take its place among our fellow national Hispanic leaders and institutions so we too can contribute to a mission of greater visibility and a clearer, stronger influence for our community,” said Alberto Mendoza, Executive Director of The National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ). NAHJ is dedicated to the recognition and professional advancement of Hispanics in the news industry.

“The National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures (NALAC), takes pride in joining the National Hispanic Leadership Agenda to address the complex issues impacting our communities. We share the coalition’s values and priorities and look forward to contributing to an agenda of collective expertise and knowledge to improve the lives of Latinos. NALAC believes in the human right to practice culture and our membership in NHLA will bring greater visibility and opportunities for Latino arts and culture,” said Maria López De León, President and CEO of The National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures (NALAC). NALAC is the nation's leading nonprofit organization exclusively dedicated to the promotion, advancement, development, and cultivation of the Latino arts field.

"On behalf of the 50 member organizations that make up the National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON), we're excited to join the ranks of the NHLA. This is a time to build with our communities and fight for our shared values of inclusion and equality for all,” said Pablo Alvarado, Executive Director of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON). NDLON works to unify and strengthen its member organizations to be more strategic and effective in their efforts to develop leadership, mobilize, and organize day laborers in order to protect and expand their civil, labor and human rights.

"At the National Latina/o Psychological Association we aspire to promote the mental health, well-being and fair treatment of those we serve through our collective clinical, advocacy, and research based expertise. We are humbled to stand hand in hand with our NHLA familia in this important fight," said Y. Evie Garcia, Ph.D., President of the National Latina/o Psychological Association (NLPA). NLPA is a national organization of mental health professionals, academics, researchers, and students whose objective is to generate and advance psychological knowledge and foster its effective application for the benefit of the Latina/o population.

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ABOUT THE NATIONAL HISPANIC LEADERSHIP AGENDA

The National Hispanic Leadership Agenda is composed of 46 of the leading national and regional Latino civil rights and public policy organizations and other elected officials, and prominent Latinos Americans. NHLA coalition members represent the diversity of the Latino community – Mexican Americans, Puerto Ricans, Cubans, and other Latino Americans. NHLA’s mission calls for unity among Latinos around the country to provide the Latino community with greater visibility and a clearer, stronger influence in our country’s affairs. NHLA brings together Latino leaders to establish policy priorities that address, and raise public awareness of, the major issues affecting the Latino community and the nation as a whole. For more information, please visit: www.nationalhispanicleadership.org.

NHLA MEMBER ORGANIZATIONS