The National Hispana Leadership Institute’s (NHLI) 20th Anniversary Celebrating Latina Leadership!

NHLI 1999 fellows visit with Madeline Albright at the State Department in Washington D.C.

The epiphany came on the seventh and final day. That was the day Esmeralda Santiago, amid a room full of 19 other ambitious and driven Latinas told the group convened for a leadership retreat in San Juan Bautista, California, “My mission is to go home and write about the Latina experience in the United States.” It was a life changing decision fueled by the support of women who were perhaps diverse in background and profession, but unified in their goal – leaving an imprint in their respective communities.

Together these women ventured on a journey that would teach them to achieve their goals, and never dismiss their dreams. They were the Class of 1990 for the National Hispana Leadership Institute’s Executive Leadership program, and like the 600 other Latina women who have graduated from the institute’s programs since its inception in 1987, they were out to break barriers.

“It gives you the permission to fill your dreams,” says Santiago, the best-selling author of five books including When I was Puerto Rican, of her involvement with the institute. “As crazy as you may think those dreams are, you realize that nothing is beyond your reach.”

Santiago’s story is just one of hundreds in the institute’s two decades – where attorneys have been appointed judges, non-profits have been formed, Latinas have been elected to public office, and where a young generation of Latinas sees possibilities in front of them.

On November 8-9, the National Hispana Leadership Institute will celebrate its 20th anniversary at an awards gala being held in Denver, Colorado, and for NHLI’s president Marisa Rivera-Albert it’s almost one of life’s subtle ways of showing how circumstances can come full circle.

On a recent day, Rivera-Albert sits at her desk mapping out some of the last minute details of the institute’s gala and leadership conference. Just 10 years earlier she came to Washington D.C. to work as a part-time aide to the institute. Her main job at the time was to organize the institute’s 10-year anniversary. What started off as a part-time job soon evolved into a full-time position and an appointment as NHLI’s president, a position she’s held for the past decade.   “The only reason you stay in a place for ten years is because you see progress and change,” Rivera-Albert says. “To be able to see Latinas follow their dreams with confidence is such a powerful feeling. These are extraordinary woman, who are doing extraordinary things.”   But for all the talk of dreams fulfilled and women empowering one another to do extraordinary things, the picture wasn’t always as such. The institute’s creation was stemmed by an absence of a national Latina networking group.   Back in 1986 when it came to leadership training opportunities for Latinas the prospects weren’t looking too good.

Class of 1998

A 1986 report commissioned by the Coors Brewing Company painted a bleak picture: scare leadership training for Latinas looking to climb the corporate ladder, hardly any visible networking opportunities for Latinas trying to expand their professional circle, and of course the age old fight to overcome stereotypes that Latinas were meant to be nothing more than subservient daughters and housewives.

Fast-forward to 2007 and NHLI’s efforts to create a ripple effect of Latina leadership and the prospects look much better.
“We’ve seen more Latinas running for office, more Latinas starting their own business. We see Latinas using our network to help out other Latinas,” says Rivera-Albert.

The idea for this network of Latina leaders was formulated following the 1986 report. At the time the brewing company enlisted the services of a national consulting firm based in Coral Gables, Florida–Maria Elena Torano and Associates (META) to help design a national program for Hispanic women.

Through a series of research focus groups and interviews with Hispanic women, META began to assemble the cornerstones of what a national program for Latinas should include.

By 1988, 20 women from throughout the country were selected for the pilot program of the National Hispana Leadership Initiative. The vision for the institute’s executive leadership program since its inception has been to create “Latinas as world ethical leaders,” Rivera-Albert says.

Creating such leaders involves a nine-month commitment for the 20 women annually selected to participate in the institute. Throughout the year they will meet up for four separate weeks in locations from the Ivy League halls of Harvard University to the powerful corridors of Washington D.C.

Together they receive training on community building, organizational development, and goal setting, while committing to mentor two Hispanic women in their local community. They must also develop a leadership project that will benefit at least 25 other Latinas.

NHLI 1991 fellows

“NHLI really serves as a catalyst for women regardless of what industry they’re in,” says Ingrid Duran, chairwoman of the institute’s Board of Directors. “It really is for women who are facing the glass ceiling, looking at ways that they can advance in their career. If ten percent of our alumnae have run for political office it’s because of NHLI instilling in them the confidence that together you can do anything. Imagine a cohort of 20 women behind you, pushing you in whatever it is you decide you want to pursue, whether it’s to start your own business or be a successful artist, we’re all here supporting each other.” Duran, a 2002 alumna of the executive leadership program credits the institute with giving her the inspiration to open her own business. She now runs D&P Creative Strategies, LLC with a fellow NHLI alumna Catherine Pino. The consulting firm addresses the concerns of Latinos, women and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender communities through philanthropic, legislative, and corporate efforts.

“It was a catalyst for starting our own business,” Duran says. “It really makes you look inward and take a closer look at your career path.”

Though the executive leadership program was an agent of change, allowing Latinas like Duran, Pino, and Santiago to figure out their life’s passions and how to apply it to evoke positive change in the world, by the early 90’s the institute also began to develop programs to reach out to more than just the 20 women who were selected for the program annually.

By 1992, in celebration of the institute’s five year anniversary, the Conexión Latina program was launched in Albuquerque, Chicago, Denver, Miami, and San Antonio, as another networking tool where women from various cities could gather for leadership training.

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By Laura Figueroa