Houston Hispanic Chamber of Commerce’s foundation gets its largest donation ever
The Houston Hispanic Chamber of Commerce's foundation recently received a historic investment from a local attorney and his wife.
Benny Agosto Jr. and Nichole Agosto donated $1 million to the Greater Houston Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Foundation. It's the single largest contribution to the GHHCF in its 45-year history as well as the single largest investment nationwide from a Hispanic donor to a Hispanic foundation, according to Laura Murillo, president and CEO of the chamber.
The donation will be used to support the foundation's Emerging Leaders Institute, which provides professional training and development, mentorship, community engagement, and recruitment opportunities for up-and-coming leaders with less than 10 years of professional work experience.
“The work of this chamber and its foundation is creating a better future for all Hispanics,” Benny Agosto said in a press release. “Our hope is this investment will ensure that programs like the Emerging Leaders Institute continues to grow and positively impact the lives of young Latinos in Houston for generations to come.”
The Agostos also donated $3 million to the South Texas College of Law Houston in 2021 for the school's diversity center. That donation was one of the largest single gifts to any law school for this purpose, STCL Houston said at the time.
Benny Agosto Jr. graduated from the school in 1995 and now is the managing partner at local personal injury law firm Abraham Watkins Nichols Agosto Aziz and Stogner in Houston. He was born in New York City and raised in Puerto Rico. His parents, who both had a sixth-grade education, instilled in him the value of hard work and education. Previously, he established the Marina and Bernardino Agosto Sr. Scholarship at STCL Houston in honor of his mother and late father.
He's also been supporting the chamber for more than 15 years.
“We’ve pursued long-term investments into our work for many years,” Murillo said in an April 16 press release. “Despite looking outside of the organization, this investment [from the Agostos] is particularly impactful because it came from one of our own. We can’t thank Nichole and Benny Agosto family enough for their incredible support for so many years.”
The Agostos' donation was announced at the chamber's 2024 Annual Luncheon and Business Expo April 12 in front of a sold-out crowd of more than 2,000 business and community leaders. The event also celebrated the chamber's 15-year partnership with KHOU, one of the longest-standing partnerships of its kind in the region.
“When I was hired to lead this chamber in 2007, the organization was a matter of days away from closing its doors,” Murillo said. “As this year’s luncheon demonstrates, we’ve come a long way from those challenges. This investment [from the Agostos] is not just a testament to how far we’ve come — it is a reaffirmation of the incredible impact our community will have on our region for years to come.”
As published by the Houston Business Journals https://www.bizjournals.com/houston/news/2024/04/16/houston-hispanic-chamber-commerce-agostos-donation.html?b=1713295330^22390202