Mayor de Blasio welcomes Hispanic Federation and Member Agencies To City Hall

On September 3rd, Hispanic Federation and a group of more than 30 Latino community-based organizations from throughout New York City met with Mayor Bill de Blasio to talk discuss some of the key challenges facing our communities.

“We've had a lot of engagement with the Mayor's leadership team over this past year and a half but it's always important that he hear directly from people on the ground who are helping to uplift our communities," said HF President José Calderón. “We had a great turnout and were able to have a frank and useful discussion with the Mayor about the ways in which his administration can partner with our leadership to tackle some difficult challenges.”

Among the issues discussed with Mayor de Blasio were the city’s support for the Latino non-profit sector, college readiness programs for Latino students, community health and mental health needs, workforce development, and immigrant integration.

“We had a full agenda of issues to discuss and while there's still a lot of work to be done, I think the Mayor was very direct about his vision for the city and the ways in which his policies are affecting Latino New Yorkers,” Calderón said.

Mayor de Blasio agreed to schedule regular meetings with the group over the course of the year to track the progress of a number of important initiatives. Hispanic Federation will take the lead in organizing these additional meetings.

“While there’s never enough time to deeply address the myriad of issues our community faces, we collectively made a compelling case for increased action, investment and commitment from the city across several key areas,” Calderón said. “I especially want to thank the Latino agency leaders who eloquently and succinctly addressed important issues. They showed once again the depth of know-how, experience and leadership that makes our Latino nonprofits critical partners for City Hall in addressing the city’s major challenges.”