Minnesota Latino Nonprofit Leadership Academy

In partnership with Hispanics Advocacy and Community Empowerment Research (HACER) and a 39 member Minnesota Latino Advisory Committee  made up of local Latino nonprofit leaders committed to statewide Latino community building, The Center for Leadership Innovation created the Minnesota Latino Nonprofit Leadership Academy. The program responds to needs emphasized by Latino nonprofit leaders in the state, who say that they are often unable to apply knowledge gained at workshops due to understaffing, under-funding, and inability to afford services of expert consultants.

Eleven Latino-led Minnesota nonprofit organizations passed a competitive screening process to participate in the Academy. Three participants from each organization are enrolled, for a total of 33 participants which include each organization’s executive director, an emerging leader and board member. All participants are provided with the opportunity to participate in leadership workshops, receive on-site consulting at their organization, and provides mentoring and coaching tailored to specific needs of each nonprofit. After the program’s inaugural 2009-10 program year, The Academy will be managed by HACER.

By building the capacity of Latino community building organizations and their leaders, The Center for Leadership Innovation and its statewide partners will strengthen Minnesota Latino nonprofit leaders’ readiness to meet the challenges presented by the recent economic downturn and improve the likelihood that these leaders will be able to continue to provide services to growing Latino populations with ever greater needs.

For more information about the Minnesota Academy, visit HACER’s website.

Program Schedule

Advisory Committee Members

David Albornoz & Blanca Raniolo, La Escuelita
Amalia Anderson, The Raíces Project
Roberto Aviña, La Familia Guidance Center
Ruth Baires & David Greenberg, El Colegio
Reverend Luisa Cabello Hansel, St. Paul Lutheran Church
Bradley Capouch & Jennifer Grassman, Sagrado Corazon de Jesus 
Maria “Piti” Capouch, El Espíritu Católico Newspaper
Tara Chadwick, Indigenous People Task Force
Gloria Contreras Edin, Centro Legal
Victor Contreras,Centro, Campesino Owattona
Oscar Echandi & Rogelio Muñoz, CLAC
Jesse Bethke Gomez & Krista Miller, CLUES
Rodolfo Gutierrez, HACER
Tyrone Guzman & Mitchell Roldan, Centro Cultural Chicano 
Reginaldo “Regi” Haslett-Marroquin, Latino Enterprise Center Northfield
Raimundo-Miguel Kornfeind, Strategic Solutions International, Inc. 
Ramón León & Jennifer Rondón, Latino Economic Development Corp.
Juan Linares, East Side Neighborhood Development Corp. 
Nelson Lozano, Centro Cultural Fargo-Moorhead 
Hugo Muñoz, La Oportunidad  
Martha Ortega, AgStar Home Mortgage Services 
Susana Pelayo-Woodward , University of Minnesota Duluth Office of Cultural Diversity 
Andrea Qualey, La Conexion 
Carlos Quezada Hoffman
Steven Renderos, Minnesotano Media Empowerment 
Francisco Segovia, Waite House 
Lourdez Schwab & Roberto Valdez, Willmar Area Multicultural Market
Liliana Silvestry, Welcome Center Austin 
Maria Tavera, Latinos en Acción 
Patricia Tototzintle, Casa de Esperanza 
Heladio “Lalo” Zavala, UMOS