State Farm Insurance continues 23-year history of supporting NHI

For 23 years, State Farm Insurance has supported the National Hispanic Institute and its leadership education initiatives for high school students. That long relationship continued this past summer with State Farm’s $20,000 grant to support NHI’s Great Debate and Collegiate World Series (CWS) programs. 

“NHI is providing educational and developmental programs with a focus on skills students need inside and outside the classroom that will be critical beyond their academic learning and as they enter the workforce,” said Jose Soto, State Farm Corporate Responsibility Analyst. “That is why State Farm is proud to support the National Hispanic Institute high school students leadership programs for the past 23 years.” 

Specifically, this year’s State Farm grant funded full or partial scholarships for nearly 100 students from throughout the United States, plus a select group of additional students from Mexico, participating in two of the three leadership series programs that NHI brings to university campuses across the U.S. every summer. 

At the Great Debate, designed for rising 10th graders, students develop their public speaking, critical thinking, and collaboration skills in a competitive format that fosters self-growth and community-building, focusing on advancing Latino communities. The CWS, NHI’s capstone program for rising seniors, lays a foundation for students to prepare their college applications and introduces them to a mental model for being thoughtful, strategic leaders.  

“NHI is grateful to State Farm Insurance for its continued support of these important programs at the heart of what our organization does,” said Nicole Nieto, Executive Vice President. “Through this grant, State Farm has directly impacted future leaders who were inspired and elevated through their experience at our programs.” 

NHI specializes in building asset-based thinking among future leaders through a community equity-building approach to advancing Latino quality of life. The Institute’s programs impact students through their immersive-disruptive design, placing students in four-day to eight-day programs that promote learning as a competition-based experience. Students find NHI programs to be transformative, and for 98 percent of participants, it’s a bridge to higher education enrollment and the first step to them taking on a broad array of leadership roles in their communities and careers of choice. 

NHI, founded in 1979 with a mission to develop Latino leaders for the 21st century, is currently preparing to host 12 residential leadership experiences in Texas, California, Colorado, New Mexico, Illinois, and Pennsylvania in 2025, continuing to build on the educational work the organization began with its first pilot program in 1982.