Ernesto Nieto

Ernesto Nieto has written extensively, via the NHI regarding the future leadership need of the Latino community both in the United States as well as globally. His two most noted works are his creative non-fiction book Third Reality: Crafting a 21st Century Latino Agenda & In the Midst of a Latino Leadership Crisis published in Volume 19 2006- 2007 of the Harvard Journal of Hispanic Policy

In 1979, Mr. Nieto left government to pursue his vision of creating a leadership institute for Latino youth. Thirty six years later, under his leadership, the National Hispanic Institute has worked with over 120 institutions of higher education and 70,000 high-ability youth from across the nation. In addition to his duties as chief executive officer of the National Hispanic Institute, Mr. Nieto serves on the Board of Trustees of Southwestern University as well as on the Board of Visitors. In 2001, he authored the book Third Reality: Crafting a 21st Century Latino Agenda.

In Third Reality: Crafting a 21st Century Latino Agenda, Ernesto Nieto chronicles the long and faith testing trials that he experienced during the early creation days of the National Hispanic Institute (NHI). Although the incorporation of NHI took place in 1979, Nieto refers to the true birth to have taken place sometime between 1903, the year of his father's birth, and 1940, the year Ernesto was born. He states in his book, "Third Reality is partly a confession to my father and mother, my way of admitting that the counsel they gave me as a young man growing up in Houston was correct in the final analysis. It's an account that's not unfamiliar to many of us as young Latinos growing up in the barrios back then thinking that having the opportunity to gain a little more education than our parents made us smarter, better prepared for life. Nothing could be farther from the truth", states Nieto (Third Reality Press). In essence, the National Hispanic Institute is the manifestation of the work laid out and lessons taught by his parents starting in the early 1940s, lessons which would not be fully realized and understood until later in his life.

Ernesto Nieto (born October 6, 1940) is the founder of the National Hispanic Institute and has served as President since the organization's inception in 1979. Born in Houston, Texas, Mr. Nieto attended Jefferson Davis High School and entered the University of Houston on an athletic scholarship. Nieto later transferred to Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, where he received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Education in 1964 with a specialization in special education. After working on his graduate degree at the University of Houston, he served in various management positions in both the state and federal government.