[4][5][6] To carry out its mission, NHI annually conducts independent research focused on leadership and educational development, collaborates with K-12 schools, colleges, and universities, and works with over 3,000 high-achieving youth and their families.

According to its website, NHI has distinguished itself from other organizations by not focusing on civil rights, not pointing to existing social problems as the rallying call to civic involvement, or depicting Hispanics and Latinos as a community in urgent need in order to influence giving.

[3] NHI instead recognizes the talent of Hispanic and Latino youth, the potential they represent to the future of the Hispanic/Latino community and extended sectors of the American and global society.

NHI's goal is for youth to increase their capacity to express thought, respond to intellectual challenges, work in organized endeavors, and compete against their top peers.

These volunteers are former participants of the Great Debate and other NHI leadership programs like the Lorenzo de Zavala Youth Legislative Session and Collegiate World Series.

Since the first project in Austin, Texas, in 1982, students from over 25 states and four Latin American nations have convened at one of six host sites to play this leadership game of vision, influence, and construction of communities of the future.

(for students between 11th and 12th grade) NHI is familiar with the fact that, from one day to the next, high school seniors are expected to make the transition to independent adult life.

[10] Celebración is the National Hispanic Institute's showcase event that annually invites its high school age and undergraduate students to participate in a four-day experience that introduces them to community social entrepreneurship as part of their continued involvement in leadership training.

As counselors, research specialists, trainers, and planners, fellows gain direct interactive experiences that enable them to critically examine the needs and capacities required for future leadership.

Named in honor of NHI alumnus and board member, John F. Lopez, Jr., the JFL Fellowship is designed to elicit qualities of spirit, creativity, and talent.

NHI's CRC studies are currently aimed at assisting institutions of higher learning in their outreach and recruitment efforts, as well as improving their undergraduate retention rates.

Additionally, the CRC is compiling and analyzing data regarding both the U.S. and global Latino communities' long-term capacities to maintain organizational effectiveness in an era of extreme population growth.

Specifically, the center's intent is to open doors to conducting much-needed research on the impact of community intervention strategies via leadership and education, such as those offered by NHI.