It's been a bit of a whirlwind week in Silicon Valley for the Northern Californian Federation of Jaliscan Clubs. This emerging umbrella organization of hometown associations, in partnership with Hispanic-Net and TierraNatal, hosted representatives from the governor's office of the state of Jalisco. The prestigious law firm of Fenwick & West was kind enough to provide the venue for Tuesday evening's kick off presentation. Over 60 club presidents plus governor's entourage and Hispanic-Net members gathered for the largest HTA meeting of its kind in Northern California.
The bulk of the program was focused on the Tres por Uno or 3-for-1 program in Jalisco.
- What is the 3 x 1 Program
- How it works
- Who can participate
- Why 3 x 1
- When does the 3 x 1 Program starts – ends
There was quite a bit of interaction between the politicians and the HTA presidents. Mitch Posada, founder of Grupo Entrada, was struck by the grassroots leadership evident among the HTA presidents. He felt that the HTA movement would provide the next generation of civic and economic leadership for newly arrived immigrants just as MALDEF and NCLR had done for previous generations of Hispanics.
The federation held a gala dinner the following evening in Silicon Valley. Originally planned for 400 people, over 600 club presidents and members gathered at the DoubleTree in San Jose. Talking to people after the event, many who were unaware of the hometown association movement, were stunned by the numbers. I think that the Jaliscan politicians and curious Silicon Valley observers were surprised by the size of the crowd in a geography not typically considered an HTA stronghold. (Los Angeles takes the prize there.) One HIspanic Silicon Valley technologist present told me 'There's a huge market here.' No kidding.
ADDENDUM:
The ability of the HTA community to mobilize very quickly tends to be underestimated. Here's a point of comparison. I attended the Hispanic Foundation Silicon Valley Charity Ball in October and they had an impressive 700+ people attend. Most of the tables were sponsored and only a minority of individuals bought their own tickets. Teresa Alvarado and her board worked very hard for months to put the gala together, marketing, fundraising and pitching to sponsors such as Citibank and Wells Fargo. In contrast, the Jalisciense federation had barely a month to put their gala together. There were no big sponsors - not even a Western Union in sight. They sold 600 INDIVIDUAL tickets at $85 each. $51,000. All through email, phone calls and word of mouth. I don't know what they'll net after their costs but imagine the huge philanthropic and seed capital potential of these organizations with a little more fundraising savvy?
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