Hispanic Access Foundation is a left-of-center Hispanic activism organization that is focused on building community between Hispanic churches and religious groups, largely for the purpose of environmentalist activism. ^{1 2} Hispanic Access has opposed the use of zero carbon nuclear energy. ³

Policies and Projects

The Hispanic Access Foundation was founded in 2010 by Maite Arce to help Latino immigrants better assimilate and navigate life in the United States. ² It administers a variety of programs mostly focused on Hispanic environmental activism and education and claims that it has had a great deal of success lobbying for the creation of national monuments and other environmental and conservation projects. ^{4 1}

HAF claims that 80,000 Latinos have been positively affect by its programs, and additionally claims that its work has aided in the creation of seven national monuments and the permanent reauthorization of the Land and Water Conservation Fund. ⁴

MANO Project

The MANO Project (My Access to Network Opportunities) is a project of the Hispanic Access Foundation geared towards providing career and networking experience to Hispanic young adults by placing participants in internships and fellowships in a variety of government agencies related to the environment and the National Credit Union Agency. ⁵

Hispanic Leadership Network

The Hispanic Leadership Network is an ongoing program of HAF that is focused on providing support and networking opportunities to Hispanic clergy through leadership training and other programs. The program is funded by the Lilly Endowment. ⁶

Conservation/Environmentalism

HAF runs a variety of programs focused on conservation and environmentalism.

The Por La Creacion Faith-Based Alliance brings together religious leaders to discuss environmental and conservation issues. Stated priorities include supporting the Antiquities Act and lobbying against public land transfers, water policy for the Colorado River, and public health and pollution. ⁷

HAF organizes an annual Latino Conservation Week during which Latino faith-based groups and other institutions hold events that promote outdoor recreation and lobby policymakers on the group’s commitment to conservation and environmental policy. The group claims that in 2018, more than 150 events were hosted. ⁸

The Our Heritage, Our Planet Film Week is an annual event hosted by HAF that works to highlight “the climate crisis” and to elevate the work and history of black, indigenous, people of color (BIPOC) related to conservation and environmental issues. ⁹

Opposition to Nuclear Energy

In May of 2021, HAF was one of 715 groups and businesses listed as a co-signer on a letter to the leadership of the U.S. House and Senate that referred to nuclear energy as a “dirty” form of energy production and a “significant” source of pollution. The letter asked federal lawmakers to reduce carbon emissions by creating a “renewable electricity standard” that promoted production of weather dependent power sources such as wind turbines and solar panels, but did not promote low carbon natural gas and zero carbon nuclear energy. ³

Nuclear power plants produce no carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gas emissions, and as of 2021 accounted for 19 percent of American electricity production—the largest source of zero carbon electricity in the United States. ¹⁰ An October 2018 proposal from The Nature Conservancy noted that zero-carbon nuclear plants produced 7.8 percent of total world energy output and recommended reducing carbon emissions by increasing nuclear capacity to 33 percent of total world energy output. ¹¹

Leadership

Maite Arce is the founder, president, and CEO of the Hispanic Access Foundation. Arce and her family immigrated to the U.S. from Mexico when she was a child. She eventually became a naturalized citizen. She has said that her parents’ experience in navigating life in the U.S. motivated her to provide resources to new Hispanic immigrants. She previously worked as the vice president of operations at the Hispanic Council for Reform and Educational Options. ¹²

In 2008, Arce contributed $250 to the John McCain presidential campaign; in 2015 she gave $100 to the left-of-center PAC ActBlue. ¹³

Finances

In 2019, the Hispanic Access Foundation reported $2,029,219 in revenue, down from more than $4.8 million in revenue in 2018. Of this revenue, $2,026,944 was derived from contributions and grants. The organization had $2,342,721 in expenses, of which $1,152,946 was allocated towards employee salaries, compensation, and benefits. HAF ended the year with $313,502 in losses and $2,184,706 in net assets. ¹⁴

1. “What We Do.” Hispanic Access Foundation. Accessed February 7, 2022. https://www.hispanicaccess.org/what-we-do.
2. “About Us.” Hispanic Access Foundation. Accessed January 29, 2022. https://www.hispanicaccess.org/about.
3. Letter from Center for Biological Diversity et. al. to U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Sen. Joe Manchin, and Rep. Frank Pallone. “RE: CONGRESS SHOULD ENACT A FEDERAL RENEWABLE ELECTRICITY STANDARD AND REJECT GAS AND FALSE SOLUTIONS.” May 12, 2021. Accessed July 25, 2023. https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/programs/energy-justice/pdfs/2021-5-12_600-Group-Letter-for-RES.pdf?_gl=1*1c9h3t8*_gcl_au*MTc3NjM3MTM1Mi4xNjg5OTU1MzAz
4. “Our Accomplishments.” Hispanic Access Foundation. Accessed February 7, 2022. https://www.hispanicaccess.org/about/our-accomplishments.
5. “MANO Project.” Hispanic Access Foundation. accessed February 4, 2022, https://www.hispanicaccess.org/what-we-do/mano-project.
6.  “Hispanic Leadership Network.” Hispanic Access Foundation. Accessed February 7, 2022. https://www.hispanicaccess.org/what-we-do/hispanic-leadership-network.
7. “Por La Creación Faith-Based Alliance.” Hispanic Access Foundation. Accessed February 7, 2022. https://www.hispanicaccess.org/what-we-do/por-la-creacion-faith-based-alliance.
8. ^[1] “Latino Conservation Week.” Hispanic Access Foundation. Accessed February 7, 2022. https://www.hispanicaccess.org/what-we-do/latino-conservation-week.
9. “Our Heritage, Our Planet Film Week.” Hispanic Access Foundation. Accessed February 7, 2022. https://www.hispanicaccess.org/what-we-do/our-heritage-our-planet-film-week.
10. “Nuclear explained.” U.S. Energy Information Administration. Accessed July 25, 2023. https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/nuclear/us-nuclear-industry.php
11. “The Science of Sustainability.” The Nature Conservancy. October 13, 2018. Accessed July 25, 2023. https://www.nature.org/en-us/what-we-do/our-insights/perspectives/the-science-of-sustainability/
12. “Maite Arce.” Hispanic Access Foundation. Accessed February 4, 2022. https://www.hispanicaccess.org/about/our-people/item/29-maite-arce.
13. “Browse Individual Contributions: Maite Arce.” FEC.gov. Accessed February 4, 2022. https://www.fec.gov/data/receipts/individual-contributions/?contributor_name=Maite+Arce&min_date=01%2F01%2F2000&max_date=12%2F31%2F2022.
14. Hispanic Access Foundation, Return of an Organization Exempt From Income Tax (Form 990), 2019.