Latino Endowment Fund Successfully Raises $50,000 to Receive Matching Grant from the Knight Foundation

In May 2017, Alberto Ibargüen, president of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, came to Hartford and announced a surprise in the form of a $50,000 matching grant to the Latino Endowment Fund (LEF) at the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving. 

When making his announcement of the grant, Ibargüen said:

“When my wife and I were raising our son here in Greater Hartford during my time as an executive at the Hartford Courant in the 1980s, the mere existence of a Latino Endowment Fund would have seemed impossible.”

Less than two years after Ibargüen’s announcement, the Latino Endowment Fund is pleased to announce that it has successfully raised $50,000 making it eligible for the dollar for dollar grant, thus doubling the matching contribution from new or renewing memberships and other donations.

Established in 2003 by Latino leaders in Greater Hartford, the Latino Endowment Fund supports efforts to increase philanthropy in the Latino community and strengthens nonprofits working to improve the quality of life for Latino residents.  Donors support an endowment fund to advance the social, economic, educational and leadership development of the Latino community.

Every year, Latino Endowment Fund members attend educational programs that examine issues affecting the Latino community and at the end of the year, they recommend a grant for a nonprofit that is serving the Latino community in the region. Over the past 15 years, the Fund has made grants of more than $200,000 to Latino-serving organizations in support of a broad range of issues including education, workforce development, and immigration. Annual membership to the Latino Endowment Fund is $365 (a dollar a day) and average grants made by the Fund are $20,000 each year.

“From its genesis, members of Greater Hartford’s Latino community have worked to create a giving circle that engages the community in philanthropy to respond to the needs in the Latino community in our region,” said Moraima Gutierrez, chair of the Latino Endowment Fund Steering Committee. “We are extremely grateful to all of our donors  and of course Alberto Ibargüen in his role as the leader of the Knight Foundation, for their generosity allowing us to build on the legacy of the Latino Endowment Fund and encourage others to be a part of the fund’s growth and lasting impact.”

For more information about the Latino Endowment Fund, contact Wanda Y. Correa at 860-548-1888 or wcorrea@hfpg.org or go to www.hfpg.org/latino.

The Hartford Foundation for Public Giving is the community foundation for Hartford and 28 surrounding communities. Made possible by the gifts of generous individuals, families and organizations, the Foundation has awarded grants of more than $750 million since its founding in 1925. For more information about the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, visit www.hfpg.org or call 860-548-1888.