National Institute For Latino Policy - Board of Directors

Board of Directors

The National Institute for Latino Policy (NiLP) is guided by a Board of Directors of outstanding Latino community and academic leaders in a variety of fields:

José R. Sánchez, Ph.D. (Chair) is a political scientist who is one of the original founders of NiLP. He is an associate professor at Long Island University where he chairs the Urban Studies Department. He is the author of Boricua Power: A Political History of Puerto Ricans in the United States and co-author of The Iraq Papers.

Edgar deJesus (Secretary) is a longtime labor leader. He is the Executive Director/Organizing Director of Servidores Publicos Unidos de Puerto Rico, Council 95, AFSCME, AFL-CIO. Previous to this position, he was Assistant Director/Organizing Director of UNITE, New York-New Jersey Regional Joint Board, AFL-CIO.

Israel Colon (Treasurer) has a long history of public service and nonprofit leadership. Currently a management consultant, he was previously the Director of the Office of Multicultural Affairs for the City of Philadelphia.

Hector Figueroa, an economist, is President of 32BJ SEIU, the largest property services union in United States.

Tanya K. Hernandez J.D., is a professor at the Fordham University School of Law. She is the author, most recently, of the critically acclaimed book, Racial Subordination in Latin America: The Role of the State, Customary Law and the New Civil Rights Response, which has been translated into Spanish.

Maria P. Salmeron Rivera, Esq. (Chair, Development Committee), an attorney, is a partner with the National Refrescos Import Company, a wine importer that she co-founded. She is also an adjunct professor at the New Jersey Institute of Technology and Essex County College.

Angelo Falcón (President) is a political scientist and the founding CEO of the organization. He is co-editor of the following books: Latinos and Politics: A Select Research Bibliography; Latino Voices: Mexican, Puerto Rican & Cuban Perspectives on American Politics; and Boricuas in Gotham: Puerto Ricans in the Making of Modern New York.