(San Francisco, November 19, 2007) – Hispanics in Philanthropy, an association of philanthropic professionals dedicated to strengthening Latino communities, announces the hiring of one new employee along with the promotion of two current staff members:  Diana A. Correra, Program Director, Northeast; Ben Fracisco Maulbeck, Director of Development; Saanii Hernandez, Senior Program Manager.

Diana A. Correa will be serving as Program Director, Northeast based out of HIP's New York office.  An attorney and native New Yorker, Diana brings more than 20 years of experience working in program development, public interest law, academia and fundraising.  For the past four years, Diana worked as a consultant in New York and Miami assisting private-sector and non-profit clients with fundraising and program development including proposal and grant writing, strategic planning, program evaluation and outcomes; her clients included a variety of non-profit organizations and most recently the Ralph Lauren Center for Cancer Care and Prevention located in Harlem.  Prior to consulting, Diana worked for four years in university advancement at Florida International University in Miami.  In addition, Diana has worked as a criminal defense attorney with the Legal Aid Society; directed an initiative on behalf of Latino inmates with the Correctional Association of New York; advocated on behalf of the legal rights of minors under the auspices of the ACLU; worked as a senior policy analyst with the Latino Commission on AIDS; and served as the Assistant Director for the Center for Public Interest Law at Columbia University Law School.  Diana has also served on the board of PRLDEF (Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund) for the past 14 years.  Diana received her bachelor's in sociology from City College of New York and her law degree from Rutgers University.  She spent a year in Spain on a Fulbright Fellowship researching the conditions of confinement of Latin American women in Spanish prisons. Diana and her husband live with their two children in Manhattan on the Upper West Side.

Ben Francisco Maulbeck currently serves as Program Manager, Northeast based out of New York and manages HIP's New York, Washington, DC, and Philadelphia's Funders' Collaborative sites.  Ben will be transitioning to Director of Development/Mid-Atlantic Program Director on December 1st and will work on fundraising for HIP across the country and in Latin America. Ben has experience in the philanthropic sector as both a grantmaker and grantseeker, as well as a strong background in the management and development of community-based organizations.
Prior to joining HIP, Ben Francisco was the founder and principal of Enterprising Dreams, providing consulting services for funders, nonprofit organizations, and government agencies in the areas of grants distribution, fundraising, organizational development, and marketing.  He has also served as a program associate for The Philadelphia Foundation and as the director of programs for the William Way Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Community Center. 
Ben Francisco has a Master’s degree in Public Policy from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, where he received the Kennedy Fellowship for exceptional academic ability and professional distinction.  He received his BA from Swarthmore College, where he was granted the Ivy Award, given annually by the faculty to the student who has excelled in scholarship, leadership, and contributions to the community.
Ben Francisco is of Puerto Rican and Anglo-American heritage and is fluent in English and Spanish.  He was born in the Bronx, grew up primarily in New Jersey, and lived in Philadelphia for nearly a decade.  He lives with his partner, Hassan, and in his spare time writes fiction and other creative writing.  

Saanii Hernandez currently serves as Program Manager Midwest in Minnesota and has been promoted to Senior Program Manager where she will be taking a lead role for the Funders' Collaborative.  Saanii will direct our efforts to continue to enhance our capacity to manage collaboratives, a core competency of the organization, by focusing on a series of improvements to the Funders' Collaborative.
Saanii brings a wealth of experience in project management, community development and communications.  Saanii is the Co-founder and Partner of Firefly Community Solutions in Minneapolis, Minnesota, an organization committed to achieving strong and sustainable communities.  Previously, Saanii was the Associate Community Liaison for the Northwest Area Foundation, where she focused on program initiatives with rural Latinos. 

Hispanics in Philanthropy is a transnational network of grantmakers, founded in 1983 on the belief that philanthropy should be more inclusive and responsive to communities of color.  HIP’s mission is to serve as a catalyst to increase resources for the Latino and Latin American civil sector, as well as to increase Latino participation and leadership throughout philanthropy.  HIP pursues this mission through programs, conferences, publications and research that seek to educate the field of philanthropy about Latino issues and Latin America, to increase the representation of Latinos in the field, and to develop philanthropy from within Latino communities.  For more information, please consult their website at www.hiponline.org.