When Gaddi Vasquez speaks about the importance of including Latino voices where critical decisions are made– in business, government and the community– he recounts the story of a boy born in Carrizo Springs, Texas to migrant farm workers who made their way to Orange County. The boy grew up and attended Santa Ana College and the University of Redlands, eventually attaining distinguished positions in public service, including serving as the 8th U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Agencies and 16th Director of the Peace Corps. He would become one of the earliest and most esteemed Latino leaders in the nation.
That boy is Ambassador Gaddi Vasquez.
His life is a testament to how graduating with a college degree can change a life. When he narrates the story of his journey, he includes his modest beginnings– the common thread he shares with many Latino children who are descendants of farm workers.
“When speaking about the early years, I start with a picture of me and my Dad in front of a one-bedroom trailer with no running water, heat, or cooling,” Vasquez said, “ I want people to have a context that, I may have served as a U.S. Ambassador, as Director of the Peace Corps, and member of the Orange County Board of Supervisors, but the journey began in the modest trailer we called home. This was the beginning, and I share the story of going to college as a first-generation student.”
Gaddi Vasquez’ success story symbolizes the promise and potential within Orange County’s burgeoning Latino population to shape a bright future through the power of education.
Addressing A Community Crisis
Vasquez is prominent among leaders who are helping Latino teens and young adults in Orange County become the first in their families to earn a college degree– just like he did. His efforts began in 1987, when he became the first Latino to be appointed and subsequently elected to the Orange County Board of Supervisors when he was 33 years of age. His ascent as a public leader served as one of the cornerstones of a broader movement in his community to improve its future.
“There was momentum and the climate was right for a coming together of Latino leaders to create a plan of action in the Latino community. I had the opportunity to collaborate with others and used my voice in the community to inspire people to believe in the possibilities,” Vasquez said.
At the time, there was a rising concern about the number of Latino students dropping out of high school and college. “Our analysis told us that one of the major impediments for Latino kids to go to college was finances,” he said. “We knew that we needed to stop the flow of a growing dropout rate, and we knew that we needed to have something positive for these students to aspire to.”
A Scholarship Fund is Born
Establishing a scholarship program and raising funds was a natural first step. With support from prominent leaders in the Orange County Latino community, including leaders in business, law, nonprofits, education, commerce and government, the Hispanic Education Endowment Fund (HEEF) was established in 1993 in collaboration with the Orange County Community Foundation.
“HEEF was launched with a meeting at the Pacific Club that included 15 to 20 Latino leaders. In that meeting we acknowledged that a key moment was at hand, which required us to take ownership of the issue, as no one else was going to take ownership. We needed to raise money, and back then, if you raised $50,000, it was a cause for celebration. I think we quicky reached more than $150,000, and momentum became real as the group and funding began to grow.”
Among those present was Peter Ueberroth, a prominent Southern California business leader, known for his leadership role as chairman and organizer of the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
“Peter was present at that meeting, and he wrote one of the first checks to the Hispanic Education Endowment Fund. Every leader in the room committed to raise seed money and we knew we were on the right track when Fernando and Olga Niebla donated the initial large gift to launch our effort. We had to prove we were viable and make the appropriate investment of time and resources that gave life to HEEF.”
Partnering with OCCF was critical, Vasquez said. “We needed stewards and trustees of the fund, and to be affiliated with an entity that would convey trust, integrity, and confidence that the dollars would be well placed, well managed, and we could generate growth through investment earnings as the fund kept growing.”
Since HEEF’s inception 31 years ago, nearly $4 million in financial assistance has been distributed through 2,800 scholarships, and the endowment now stands at more than $4.1 million to fuel future scholarship awards. HEEF is now the largest scholarship fund for Latinos in Orange County.
Today, HEEF features 30 sub-funds through OCCF that offer scholarship awards of $2,500 to $5,000 across multiple areas of interest to high school graduates and community college transfer students who live in the county; tuition grants to students at select Santa Ana Catholic grammar schools; and scholarships for Orange County college graduates heading to law school.
Investing in the Future
To help sustain HEEF’s success, Vasquez’s advocacy on behalf of the Latino community continues. He has ongoing conversations with the business community and philanthropists about why supporting efforts to improve educational opportunities for Latino students benefits the county in the long term.
“The Latino community represents a potent labor force,” he said. The academic success of young Latinos will be critical to the future of Orange County’s economic future.
“When I ask for contributions to HEEF, I emphasize to donors that we strive to ensure that young men and women from the Latino community achieve access to higher education and educational attainment. As a first generation college graduate in my family’s history, I know the value and the transformative impact that a college education can have.”
He believes that society benefits from helping Latino students earn a seat in the upper ranks of business, government and nonprofits, where they can contribute their perspective, shaped by their struggles and life experiences. HEEF opens the doors to an opportunity for them to offer their voices to the community at large.
“Every graduate represents promise and possibilities. An academic investment in young men and women can yield great returns. Vasquez said. “I came into this world as the son of a migrant farm working family who labored in difficult conditions and never gave up. It’s been an amazing journey.”
