Philanthropist works for peace - Herman Gallegos

At age 9, Herman Gallegos learned firsthand how philanthropic work can change lives.  Three years after his family moved to San Francisco from a Colorado mining community, Gallegos suffered an accident that cost him his leg. The principal of his school called a local organization, which bought Gallegos his first prosthesis for $125. 
“It had an impact on me; the generosity of others allowed me to get through life in a very active way,” Gallegos said. “I overcame the burden of speaking Spanish only. And as I moved up, I became painfully aware that Hispanics suffered from discrimination and lack of role models.
“I decided that whatever I did with my life it would be helping people dealing with the same issues,” he said.
Gallegos attended San Jose State University and studied social work at University of California, Berkeley. He went on to work with labor activist Cesar Chavez and found the Mexican-American Legal Defense and Education Fund and the National Council of La Raza. In 1974, he was tapped by the Rosenberg Foundation to join its board and became one of the first Hispanics in the United States to become a member of a private foundation.

In 1983, he founded Hispanic in Philanthropy with Luz Vega-Marquis and Elisa Arevalo, recognizing that they needed to increase the representation of Latinos – as well as other under-represented groups – on the staffs and boards of philanthropic institutions.

In 2000, HIP launched the Funders’ Collaborative for Strong Latino Communities. It was designed to strengthen funders’ knowledge of Latino communities and grantmaking and technical assistance. Since then, the Collaborative has raised more than $32 million from 159 donors and made grants to 424 Latino-led nonprofits nationwide.

Gallegos has now joined a group called  Pace e Bene that promotes nonviolence. He is also helping prepare a book about the contributions of Hispanics to the civil rights movements.

“People tend to think of civil rights as black and white and don’t think of what other groups had to contend with,” Gallegos said. “We think there’s something to learn from history.”

Meanwhile, Gallegos is working with Pace e Bene to help Hispanics not get entwined in a culture of violence.

“The immigration issue is a very volatile one,” Gallegos said. “I’m concerned that we need to do something about training immigrant leadership to take responsibility for themselves so when they become citizens they will register to vote, send kids to school, participate in nonprofts and be able to become solid citizens in the community.”