Raul Yzaguirre
Document Actions
Position: Immediate Past President & CEO
Organization: National Council of La Raza
Location: Washington, DC
Raul Yzaguirre is a Panel member.
Raul Yzaguirre is president of the National Council of La Raza, the largest constituency-based national Hispanic organization and leading Hispanic think tank in America. Born in the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas, he began his civil rights career at 15, when he organized a junior auxiliary of an Hispanic veterans organization. After four years in the U.S. Air Force Medical Corps, he founded the National Organization for Mexican American Services, and a proposal he wrote for NOMAS led to the creation of what is now NCLR. Mr. Yzaguirre joined NCLR in 1974 and has spearheaded its emergence as the country's most influential and respected advocate for Hispanics. Mr. Yzaguirre has been honored on many occasions for his work: for example, he was the first Hispanic to receive a Rockefeller Public Service Award from Princeton University, and he received the Order of the Aztec Eagle, the highest honor given by the government of Mexico to noncitizens. He serves on the board of directors of numerous organizations, including Sears, Roebuck and Co., United Way of America, AARP Services, Inc., National Hispanic Leadership Agenda, and the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights; he is also a past chairman of INDEPENDENT SECTOR. Mr. Yzaguirre, who lives in the Washington area, received his B.S. from the George Washington University.