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MEDIA
what is the national hispanic institute?
Founded in 1979, the National Hispanic Institute cultivates community leaders for the growing Latino population in the U.S., and increasingly in Latin America. NHI’s unique approach encourages young leaders to recognize assets in the Latino community and prepares them to cultivate those for sustainable prosperity. NHI has worked with more than 100,000 alumni through its programs; many who have gone on to become entrepreneurs, business owners, educational leaders, physicians, state and local government officials, and even members of Congress.
Keep up with NHI via NHIMagazine.com, the organization's official online publication, and its social media channels, including Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, and most recently, Bluesky.
You can also find the NHI Podcast channel via Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
WHat does Nhi do?
NHI focuses its leadership education on a three-part series that helps high school students develop core leadership skills, delivering immersive experiences held at university campuses. Those include:
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The Great Debate, which focuses on critical/analytical thinking, articulating ideas, teamwork, and community purpose.
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The Lorenzo de Zavala Youth Legislative Session, which focuses on vision-building with a community purpose, asset-based thinking, and building a leadership class with a life-long purpose.
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The Collegiate World Series, which focuses on the college application process and defining a leadership role in community life.
NHI re-engages high school and college-age students to volunteer by mentoring younger students. These individuals annually give hundreds of hours of volunteer service through the a variety of John F. Lopez Fellowship programs.
NHI IS...
National, with participants and programming for students throughout the U.S.
International, with reach in parts of Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central America.
Innovative, integrating social lab learning, skill and competency development, self-awareness, and community-equity building into programs.
Collaborative, with NHI Alumni volunteering time and energy, our high school and district partners, our university partners, and our sponsors.
NHI'S SOCIAL MEDIA REACH
(as of Oct. 14, 2025)
10,000+ Facebook followers
8,700+ Instagram followers
~4,000 LinkedIn followers
2,150 YouTube channel subscribers
RECENT COVERAGE
Here is a sampling of recent NHI coverage:
KSAT (ABC affiliate, San Antonio)
This story covered the 2025 Texas LDZ program at Trinity University. "What I’m getting from this experience the most is that I know I can be a winner, I can be a leader," Ana Macchiarella of Academia Maria Reina in San Juan, Puerto Rico, elected Lieutenant Governor, said to KSAT's reporter.
WVIK (NPR affiliate, Quad Cities)
This story covers the 2025 National LDZ at Augustana College. "It really challenges them and puts them outside of their comfort zone to be able to think outside of the box and be able to think critically and think of other ways that they can solve problems," said Juan Hernández-Romo, who attended the program in 2019 and served on its staff, of how it engaged students.
This story covered the 2025 Texas Star Great Debate at Our Lady of the Lake University. "We want you to find the hero inside of yourself and talk about that, and talk about how we can make that better, and what heroic things our community’s doing every day, and how can we strengthen that,” NHI executive vice president Nicole Nieto told OLLU students at the opening ceremony.
Students participating in the 2025 California Sol Great Debate at the University of San Diego were featured in this article. "The programs teach leadership skills, teach communication skills and empower participants to become leaders in their communities when they come home from whichever program they attend," participating student Taylor Luna told the Town Crier.
Escape Into a Cause (Austin-based podcast):
On this episode of the podcast covering Austin-area nonprofits, graduating Liberal Arts and Science Academy seniors Lucas Castillo-West (now at Yale University) and Isabella Matamoros (now at the University of Georgia) talk about their NHI experiences and how that's translated to their taking on leadership roles at LASA and with NHI's Austin chapter.
University of New Mexico pressroomUNM heralded its partnership with NHI on the 2025 Dionisio “Dennis” Chavez New Mexico LDZ Youth Legislative Session, specifically for New Mexico high school students with leadership capabilities.
NHI's partner in Las Vegas, which has been supporting NHI programs since 2022, covered the arrival of the Heroes, Heroines and Legends (HHL) to prepare rising ninth graders for its high school leadership development programs, as well as a celebration of its first Las Vegas group of graduating seniors.
NHI and Sands Cares renewed its partnership, with the Las Vegas-based entity contributing nearly $350,000 for the 2024-2025 through 2026-2027 academic years to continue support of NHI's transformational leadership development program for Latino high school students in Las Vegas.
RECENT PRESS RELEASES
NHI sent out a press release covering its recruiting efforts for its 2026 leadership education programs. “NHI gathers students with the capacity for leadership, and year after year, develops them into more confident, cognizant, and community-minded young leaders,” an NHI spokesperson said.
PARTNERS
NHI partners with a number of corporations, foundations, and organizations to further its mission, including Bezos Family Foundation, State Farm, Walmart, Sands Cares, and the 1931 Foundation. Partners on previous initiatives include H-E-B, Union Pacific, DISH Latino, the Kerr Foundation, and the U.S. Forest Service. NHI partners with universities to host its leadership programs during the summer months.
AWARDS
Over its more than 45 years of work NHI has been honored with a number of awards, including the Human and Civil Rights Award from the National Education Association, the National Association of College Admission Counseling Award, and the University of Texas Community Engagement Award.
Ernesto Nieto was named a Woodrow Wilson Visiting Fellow and honored with the Splete Award for Civil Rights by the Council of Independent Colleges in 2018. Both Gloria de Leon and Ernesto Nieto hold Honorary PhDs from Texas Wesleyan University and Austin College and were most recently jointly awarded the Corazon Award from Austin-based Con Mi Madre. In 2025, Ernesto received the San Antonio Spurs Leaders & Legacies Award.
Nicole Nieto, NHI’s executive vice president and chief operating officer, has recently been honored with the Tower Award from the University of Texas at Austin for her life-long commitment to NHI.
CONTACT NHI'S PR TEAM
pr@nhimail.com
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