Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute

History

The Congressional Hispanic Caucus, an originally bipartisan but since the 1990s Democratic-only membership caucus was formed in 1976 by five Hispanic members of Congress: U.S. Representatives Herman Badillo (D-NY), Eligio de la Garza (D-TX), Henry B. Gonzalez (D-TX), and Edward Roybal (D-CA) and Resident Commissioner for Puerto Rico Baltasar Corrada (New Progressive-Democratic). Initially, the aim of the Caucus was to closely monitor legislative, executive, and judicial actions with regard to their prospective impact on Hispanic Americans. ¹²

Two years later in 1978, Roybal, de la Garza, Corrada, and Rep. Robert Garcia (D-NY) to cofound the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization to facilitate the interests of Hispanics in the United States through educational events and programming. In 1981, a new federal regulation stipulated that fundraising activity for such organizations could not be conducted on government premises. So, the Institute acquired an office on Capitol Hill to house its fundraising and legislative support staff. ¹

As the aims of the Institute expanded past legislative support and educational programs aimed at Capitol Hill staffers, its board of directors was expanded in 1985 to include Hispanic business executives. During this period, the Institute began to develop many of the leadership development programs that currently comprise the majority of its activity. ¹

Non-Partisan Status

Although the Institute claims to be non-partisan, the legislative Caucus for which it is named and with which it maintains a close relationship is aligned with the Democratic Party. In November 2017, the Caucus controversially declined the application of then-U.S. Rep. Carlos Curbelo (R-FL). According to a report in the Miami Herald, members of the Caucus cited Curbelo’s stance on immigration policy as one of the main reasons for its decision. In a statement made by Curbelo after the announcement of the decision, he said, “It is truly shameful [that] the Congressional Hispanic Caucus has decided to build a wall around the organization to exclude Hispanic-Americans who aren’t registered in the Democratic Party.” ³

Hispanic Republican lawmakers have maintained a counterpart Congressional Hispanic Conference to facilitate the interests of Hispanic conservatives. ⁴

Programs

The Institute maintains several leadership-oriented programs for Latinos, which facilitate the introduction and integration of Latinos to and into public policy. Its main programs are a “Public Policy Fellowship,” which provides recent university graduates with a paid nine-month fellowship in a congressional office, or senate or house select committee, and a “Graduate fellowship,” which places fellows at policy groups such as the American Petroleum Institute, National Urban League, and American Health Association. ^{5 6} Additionally, the Institute runs a paid summer internship program, which places Latino students into internships in congressional offices of Caucus members. ⁷

Funding

Sponsors of the Institute’s programs include major corporations such as Amazon, CapitalOne, WalMart, The Coca-Cola Foundation, Toyota, Pepsico, and Southwest Airlines. ⁸

A number of liberal institutional foundations, including the Ford Foundation, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and the Annie E. Casey Foundation, have also supported the Institute. ⁹

People

Marco A. Davis

Prior to becoming the President and CEO of the Institute, Marco A. Davis was a partner at New Profit, a grant-making group, which supports organizations attempting to increase social mobility. Davis also worked in the administration of President Barack Obama as deputy director of the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics and as the director of public engagement for the Corporation for National and Community Service. Prior to his work in the Obama administration, Davis worked for UnidosUS (formerly the National Council of La Raza), a left-progressive Latino-oriented nonprofit, which advocates for increased immigration to the United States and legislation facilitating the citizenship of presently illegal immigrants. ¹⁰

Robert Garcia

Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA) serves as a member of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute’s advisory council. Garcia is, as of June 2025, serving his second term in Congress. He is the ranking member of the National Security, Border and Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the House Oversight Committee, and a member of the Congressional Progressive, Hispanic, and Equality Caucuses. Garcia previously served as the mayor of Long Beach, California for two terms. ¹¹