Our Story
In 1983, the Hall Family Foundation approached leaders in Kansas City's Hispanic community with an innovative idea for them to control philanthropic resources for their own community. The concept had never been attempted before: to give leaders in the Kansas City Latino community resources for them to decide philanthropic priorities in their own community. Through the leadership of Tony Salazar and others in the community, the group rose to the challenge of investing the initial funds contributed by the Hall Family Foundation.
The Hispanic Development Fund, or HDF, soon proved the concept could become a reality. In 1986, the Hall Family Foundation made a pledge to further support the fund by helping create an endowment. Over the ensuing years the HDF leadership through hard work and perseverance continued to raise more endowment funds, many from within the Latino community. In 2006, HDF, as a result of its growth and success, became a regional affiliate of the Greater Kansas City Community Foundation.
Our Mission
The mission of the Greater Kansas City Hispanic Development Fund is to improve the quality of life of Latino families in Greater Kansas City by engaging the Latino community in philanthropy to build stronger communities through grantmaking and scholarship support.
Today, HDF carries out our mission and commitment to the Kansas City Hispanic community in four fundamental ways:
Increasing philanthropy in the Latino community through our annual Cambio para Cambio fundraising campaign.
Removing the financial barriers to college through the HDF Scholarship Program.
Advising students and families in the college-going process through the HDF Family College Prep Program.
Supporting Latino-serving nonprofit organizations through the HDF Grantmaking Program