The National Hispanic Caucus of State Legislators (NHCSL) is the non-partisan, 501(C)(3) organization founded in 1989 by then Colorado State Senator, Larry Trujillo. NHCSL today represents over 425 elected

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...

State legislators throughout the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...

and the

Virgin Islands The Virgin Islands ( es, Islas Vírgenes) are an archipelago in the Caribbean Sea. They are geologically and biogeographically the easternmost part of the Greater Antilles, the northern islands belonging to the Puerto Rico Trench and St. Croix ...

. Since its founding, the NHCSL's primary mission has been development of policies and procedures that enhance quality of life for Hispanic Communities across the country. The NHCSL continues to be a leader in the fight for additional resources at all levels of

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

. Hispanics nationwide can benefit from better

housing Housing, or more generally, living spaces, refers to the construction and assigned usage of houses or buildings individually or collectively, for the purpose of shelter. Housing ensures that members of society have a place to live, whether it ...

education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Va ...

, healthcare, and business opportunities in both the

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...

and

private sector The private sector is the part of the economy, sometimes referred to as the citizen sector, which is owned by private groups, usually as a means of establishment for profit or non profit, rather than being owned by the government. Employment The ...

s. NHCSL works on behalf of State Legislators with

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...

, the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...

and the national

advocacy Advocacy is an Action (philosophy), activity by an individual or advocacy group, group that aims to influence decision making, decisions within political, economic, and social institutions. Advocacy includes activities and publications to infl ...

community to influence and direct these important national priorities. The NHCSL is the preeminent organization serving and representing the interests of Hispanic state legislators from all states, commonwealths, and territories of the United States. The organization's mission is to serve as a catalyst for joint action on issues of common concern to all segments of the Hispanic community; a forum for

information exchange Information exchange or information sharing means that people or other entities pass information from one to another. This could be done electronically or through certain systems. These are terms that can either refer to bidirectional ''informa ...

and member networking; an institute for

leadership Leadership, both as a research area and as a practical skill, encompasses the ability of an individual, group or organization to "lead", influence or guide other individuals, teams, or entire organizations. The word "leadership" often gets view ...

training; a liaison with sister U.S. Hispanic organizations throughout the country; a promoter of public/private partnerships with business and labor; and a partner with Hispanic state or provincial legislators and their associations representing

Central Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

and

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

NHCSL leadership 2019-2021

*President: Senator Daniel Ivey-Soto (NM) *First Vice President: Senator

Nellie Pou Nelida "Nellie" Pou (born May 20, 1956; pronounced "Poe") is an American Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party politician who has served in the New Jersey Senate since 2012, representing the New Jersey's 35th legislative district, 3 ...

(NJ) *Immediate Past President: Senator

Carmelo Ríos Santiago Carmelo Javier Ríos Santiago (born May 21, 1973 in San Juan, Puerto Rico) is a Puerto Rican politician, lawyer and senator. He has been a member of the Senate of Puerto Rico since 2005. Early years and studies Carmelo Ríos was born on May 2 ...

(PR) *Vice President for Membership: Representative

Cesar Chavez (legislator) Cesar Chavez (born October 30, 1987) is a Mexican-American singer and politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he served in the Arizona House of Representatives, representing Arizona's 29th legislative district, from 2017 to 2023. Prior t ...

(AZ) *Vice President for Public Policy: Representative

Juan Candelaria Juan R. Candelaria (born October 27, 1970) is an American Democratic politician. He is a member of the Connecticut House of Representatives from the 95th District, being first elected in 2002. He is a member of the Appropriations, Education, Hi ...

(CT) *Secretary: Representative

Teresa Alonso Leon Teresa Alonso Leon (born 1975) is an American Democratic politician who served in the Oregon House of Representatives for three terms from 2017 to 2023. She represented the 22nd district, which covers parts of Marion County along Interstate 5, f ...

(OR) *Treasurer: Representative

Patricia Roybal Caballero Patricia A. Roybal Caballero (born 1949/1950) is an American politician serving as a member of the New Mexico House of Representatives from the 13th district. Elected in 2012, she assumed office on January 15, 2013. Education Roybal Caballero ...

(NM) *East Region Chair: Delegate Joseline Peña-Melnyk (MD) *Midwest Region Chair: Senator

Cristina Castro Cristina Castro is a Democratic member of the Illinois Senate who took office in January 2017. Castro represents the 22nd district, which includes all or portions of Elgin, Barrington Hills, Carpentersville, East Dundee and South Elgin, Str ...

(IL) *South Region Chair: Delegate

Elizabeth Guzmán Elizabeth Rosalina Guzmán is a Peruvian-American politician and social worker elected to represent Virginia's 31st House of Delegates district in Virginia's House of Delegates. She serves on the House committees on Privileges and Elections a ...

(VA) *West Region Chair: Representative

Diego Espinoza Diego Espinoza is a former Democratic member of the Arizona House of Representatives The Arizona State House of Representatives is the lower house of the Arizona Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Arizona. The upper hou ...

(AZ) In addition to the leadership team, NHCSL is governed by a 17-member

executive committee A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly. A committee is not itself considered to be a form of assembly. Usually, the assembly sends matters into a committee as a way to explore them more ...

NHCSL staff

*Kenneth Romero, Executive Director *Guillermo L. Mena-Irizarry, Director of Legislation, Policy and Advocacy *Rhina Villatoro, Director of Meetings and Membership Services

References

{{Reflist

External links

*http://www.nhcsl.org Hispanic and Latino American organizations