The National Hispanic Institute, as part of its mission to cultivate leadership for the 21st century U.S. Latino community, will be holding its Texas Star Lorenzo de Zavala Youth Legislative program (known to participants as the LDZ) from July 18-25 at Texas A&M University- Kingsville.

The event will involve 135 student participants from the Alice, Corpus Christi, Eagle Pass, Falfurrias, Kingsville, La Joya, Mathis, Odem, and San Antonio school districts, as well as an additional group of high school and college student volunteers who are veterans of previous NHI programs.

The program, coordinated by the National Hispanic Institute, the largest Latino youth organization in the nation, is one of 16 programs being held in the United States and Panama this summer, designed for high-performing Latino high school students to develop leadership skills.

NHI first initiated its summer programs for high school students in the early 1980s to help students develop the communication and collaboration skills needed to effectively lead in the U.S. Latino community. According to NHI founder and president, Dr. Ernesto Nieto, there is an ongoing leadership crisis in the U.S. Latino community, stemming in part from growing U.S. Latino population numbers and a lack of civic engagement among U.S. Latino community members.

Though NHI’s primary concern is developing leaders, students who have participated in NHI programs have a remarkable track record with respect to college enrollment. More than 98 percent of NHI participants attend college, with 90 percent graduating in four to five years, and 65 percent continuing into graduate studies.

“The LDZ uses a formal legislative process as a means for young people to introduce their ideas, galvanize support and ultimately shape public policy to advance Latino quality of life,” Nieto said.

“The LDZ was introduced to bring Latino children together to discuss issues that relate to their communities and to collaboratively address them as future leaders,” added Gloria de Leon, NHI’s Executive Vice President and the co-founder of the LDZ program. “We want youth to see themselves as the shapers of policy that will build our community’s assets.”

In addition to the Lorenzo de Zavala Youth Legislative Session, geared toward high school sophomores and juniors, NHI offers other leadership programs for high school students, including the Great Debate (formerly known as the Young Leaders Conference), geared toward high school freshmen, and the Collegiate World Series, geared toward high school juniors looking to enter college.

Nieto founded the nonprofit organization in 1979 in Austin, as a way to encourage young Latino students to enhance their leadership abilities and actively participate in the Latino community. NHI has an alumni base of more than 70,000, which includes a number of professional, civic and political leaders who are using the skills they developed in NHI programs to affect positive change in the U.S. Latino community.