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For three decades HACE has been a pioneer in promoting Latino employment and professional growth. During the economic downturn, HACE has increased its efforts to spur hiring, focusing on recruitment, networking, and professional development.  Among its many activities to encourage, promote and expand the growth of Latinos in the professions, HACE has focused on three: 

• Increasing membership – Since 1987, it has increased its national membership from 430 members in Chicago to over 40,000 registered members today.  In the last four years, our membership has grown by 13 percent annually; 96 percent of members have bachelors’ degrees; 20 percent also have a masters and 14 percent have an MBA.
• Building a searchable database of members’ resumes, which can be accessed by employers looking to fill positions
• HACE has posted almost 1.2 million jobs on its Career Center, for which members can apply.  In the last three years alone, HACE has posted 750,000 jobs from 150 different corporations, leading to 170,000 job views, 2,102 job applications, 300 hires, and 504,000 job searches.  HACE continues to promote these job opportunities on its website, through social media and e-blasters.

If HACE were to be awarded this grant, the funding would be specifically used to enlarge our El Futuro program. This high school program helps "at-risk" Latino and African American students in the Chicago Public Schools to graduate high school, apply to colleges and universities, and ultimately provide students support for their career aspirations. Our goal is, by 2017, to influence at least 500 students a year, include 8 schools nationwide, increase our professional volunteers for El Futuro, provide $10,000 in scholarships and maintain a 95% + student satisfaction rating. With this grant, our El Futuro program can continue tackling the job crisis by encouraging Latino and African- American students to apply for college, build strong networks, and develop their leadership skills, which would ultimately increase their potential to enter the professional workforce.