MEDIA ADVISORY
FOR IMMEDIATE DISTRIBUTION 

The Effort is Designed to Aggressively Identify, Prepare and Support Latino and Latina Professionals for Appointments to the Highest Levels of Government

Washington D.C. -- On Wednesday morning, the National Hispanic Leadership Agenda, a coalition of 34 preeminent national Latino organizations, will hold a press conference to announce its Latino Appointments Program. While Latinos have grown in population and political power, the number of Latinos appointed on the federal and state executive levels remain dismal. The NHLA will announce a re-energized federal appointments advocacy effort and the first-ever national campaign to increase the number of Latinos appointed to state-level executive positions in key Latino-populated states throughout the country.

Since its inception over two decades ago, NHLA has advocated for increased representation of Latinos in the federal government. While Latinos are nearly 17 percent of the U.S. population, they are just 8 percent of the federal career workforce and as little as 3 percent of the employees in several federal agencies according to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management's Eleventh Annual Report on Hispanic Employment in the Federal Government. The Latino appointment gap is similarly striking at the federal level, where there is only one Latino pending a Cabinet-level confirmation, and at the state-level, where a recent study of ten states finds Latinos were just 12 percent of 1,121 officials in those states.

With a renewed sense of political power after the November 2012 elections, NHLA is now embarking on a state advocacy effort to tackle this public service disparity and to increase the presence of Latinos in both federal and state executive level offices.

What:

Press conference to announce NHLA's Latino Appointments Program

When:

Wednesday, June 5, 2013 at 9:30 am ET

Where:

National Press Club The Fourth Estate Room

Who:

Hector Sanchez, NHLA Chair & LCLAA

Brent Wilkes, NHLA Vice Chair & LULAC

Sen. Alex Padilla, California State Senate

Jessica Gonzalez, National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health

Dr. Juan Andrade, United States Hispanic Leadership Institute

Media Registration:

Email Lia Seremetis at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Established in 1991, The National Hispanic Leadership Agenda (NHLA) brings together Hispanic 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 and follow @NHLAgenda.

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FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:

| Melody Gonzales | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. | (202) 508-6917 |

| Lia Seremetis | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. | (202) 587-4936 |

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American GI Forum | ASPIRA Association, Inc. | Casa de Esperanza | Cuban American National Council | Farmworkers Justice | Hispanic Association of Colleges & Universities | Hispanic Federation | Hispanic National Bar Association | Labor Council for Latin American Advancement | Latino Justice PRLDEF | League of United Latin American Citizens | MANA, A National Latina Organization | Mexican American Legal Defense & Educational Fund | NALEO Educational Fund | National Association of Hispanic Federal Executives | National Association of Hispanic Publications | National Association of Latino Independent Producers | National Conference of Puerto Rican Women | National Council of La Raza | National Hispana Leadership Institute | National Hispanic Caucus of State Legislators | National Hispanic Council on Aging | National Hispanic Environmental Council | National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts | National Hispanic Media Coalition | National Hispanic Medical Association | National Institute for Latino Policy | National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health | National Puerto Rican Coalition, Inc. | SER – Jobs for Progress National, Inc. | Southwest Voter Registration Education Project | United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce | United States-Mexico Chamber of Commerce | U.S. Hispanic Leadership Institute