Jose Antonio Tijerino is president and CEO of the Hispanic Heritage Foundation, which focuses on education, workforce development, connectivity, innovative leadership and public awareness in addition to promoting cultural pride and accomplishment.  Under Tijerino’s leadership, HHF has built a network of 100,000 vetted Latino talent (15-35-year-olds) and focused on the STEM fields, entrepreneurship, finance, media, and other priority areas for America.  HHF works closely with Fortune 500 companies, government agencies and other nonprofits. Prior to HHF, Tijerino worked at Fannie Mae Foundation, Nike, Burson-Marsteller and Cohn & Wolfe under the Young & Rubicam umbrella.

Tijerino has been honored with the prestigious Ohtli Award, which is the highest recognition by the Government of Mexico outside of Mexico; Lifetime Achievement Award by National PTA; Vision Award by Silicon Valley Latino Leadership; Brillante Award by National Society of Hispanic MBAs; Leadership Award from Telemundo; Army Strong civilian award by US Army; Community Service Award by Governor of Maryland; Cesar Chavez Award by National Hispanic Leadership Institute; and the Champion of Digital Equity Award by the Multi-Cultural Telecom & Internet Council (MMTC); among others.Tijerino serves on various boards including Harvard’s Latino Leadership Initiative at the Kennedy School; The Hispanic Technology and Telecommunications Partnership (HTTP); University of Maryland’s Smith School of Business; PBS Sci-Girls; Nielsen’s Latino Advisory Counsel; America’s Promise Alliance; Latino Jewish Leadership Council; and Center for the History of the New America.  Tijerino also founded The American Project with Notre Dame University to treat immigrants with dignity.