NHI partners with UC Berkeley for California GDx program on July 9-11

The National Hispanic Institute is proud to announce that the University of California, Berkeley will serve as the virtual host for NHI’s California GDx program on July 9-11, 2021. 

The GDx, a digital learning experience developed in 2020 to deliver NHI’s Great Debate program in an online format, allows students between 9th and 10th grade the opportunity to develop their communication, critical thinking, and public speaking skills, while also adding a digital communications component into the mix. 

NHI, founded in 1979, is dedicated to developing academically-strong high school students with a desire for and aptitude for leadership. Through a three-year curriculum that includes week-long summer sessions and learning opportunities throughout the school year, NHI aims to develop leaders for the growing global Latino community. 

The UC Berkeley-sponsored event will enroll at least 50 rising sophomores in a tournament format, using technologies like Zoom, Moodle, and Discord to discuss and reflect on challenges and opportunities for the Latino community, as well as create teams, develop camaraderie, and compete in speech and debate categories toward both individual and team honors. 

“This program’s primary objectives are to create greater accessibility in underserved communities, build a strong rationale for community leadership amongst Latina/o/x high school students, and create a pathway for higher education,” said Chris Nieto, NHI’s Senior Vice President. “In sharing resources, UC Berkeley will assist NHI in targeting key communities for outreach, provide college readiness workshops to students and families, provide campus virtual tours, and play an active role in developing the leadership capacities in GDx students.” 

“We are excited for the opportunities that will arise from our partnership with the National Hispanic Institute,” said Trey Moore, associate director of diversity and inclusion at the University of California, Berkeley. “We look forward to working together in engaging more students to showcase not only Berkeley but encouraging the pursuit of higher education as a whole.  With this partnership, we intend to expand our efforts in serving the Latinx community and the state of California.”    

Prior to the pandemic, NHI coordinated as many as 17 annual summer programs, partnering with university hosts throughout the U.S. and in Mexico and Panama. This year, NHI is making plans to return to some campuses for select programs, including the California Lorenzo de Zavala Youth Legislative Session at the University of San Diego, but is enlisting schools as virtual hosts for GDx programs. 

For more information on the organization or to register, visit nationalhispanicinstitute.org. To reach out to an NHI representative for more about the program, contact Chris Nieto at cnieto@nhimail.com. 

The GDx program is sponsored in part by State Farm.