Manuel Mirabal, Co-Chair of the National Latino Coalition on Climate Change

Manuel Mirabal is the President of the National Puerto Rican Coalition, Inc. (NPRC). NPRC is the leading national advocacy and public policy organization representing the Puerto Rican community in Washington, DC. NPRC is a non-profit organization founded in 1977 to advance the social, political and economic well being of the Puerto Rican community, and has a membership of over 250 civic organizations throughout the United States and Puerto Rico. Mr. Mirabal is an outspoken national leader with a distinguished career in the public and private sectors. He has been recognized as one of the 100 most influential Hispanics in the United States and as one of the twenty-five most influential Hispanics in Washington, DC.

Mr. Mirabal is immediate past Chair of NHLA, the National Hispanic Leadership Agenda, a position he held from September 2000 to June 2004. NHLA is a coalition of 42 National Hispanic organizations and civic leaders that addresses national public policy issues affecting the Hispanic community. NHLA issues a national policy agendaand an annual Congressional Scorecard addressing social and economic issues affecting all Latinos.

Mr. Mirabal, is also the immediate past Chair of the Board of Directors of HACR, the Hispanic Association on Corporate Responsibility. HACR is a coalition of ten national Hispanic organizations working to ensure the full inclusion of Hispanics in Corporate America in the areas of governance, procurement, franchising, employment, and philanthropy. Mr. Mirabal has also been directly involved in the development of several national coalitions including; FoundingChair of HTTP, the Hispanic Technology and Telecommunications Partnership, a coalition of Hispanic organizations that addresses digital divide issues; and the Founding Chair of HHP, the Hispanic Homeownership Partnership, a government/community partnership to improve homeownership opportunities for Hispanic Americans and eliminate economic and discriminatory barriers to homeownership.

As a vocal advocate for social and economic justice, Mr. Mirabal has spearheaded many national efforts to address issues affecting the Puerto Rican and Hispanic community. These have included national protests over the bombing of Vieques, Puerto Rico, and the filing of a violation of civil rights complaints with the U.S. Department of Justice against the U.S. Navy for use of excessive force on civilians exercising their First Amendment rights. Mr. Mirabal has also challenged the major networks including NBC, ABC, CBS and FOX for airing television shows that were offensive to Latinos. These included a 2001 Law and Order Episode unfairly casting Puerto Ricans as anti-social thugs, and a May 1998, episode of the Seinfeld Show, which was offensive to Hispanics. As a result of Mr. Mirabal's leadership these issues received widespread media coverage and the networks agreed to never re-run the episodes.

From 1994 to 1996, Mr. Mirabal served as Chair of the Puerto Rican Leadership Summit, (Boricua First), which sponsored "Camina Con Nosotros", a national affirmation day held in Washington, DC on March 29, 1996. Boricua First! was attended by seven thousand persons. The event also included the first public tribute given to Puerto Rican Veterans by the President of the United States and the Department of Veterans Affairs at a ceremony held at the Vietnam War Memorial.

From 1990 to 1994, Mr. Mirabal served as the President of the New York Puerto Rican Parade, (a voluntary civic position). The annual parade, which was dedicated to Mr. Mirabal in June 2004 is the largest outdoor-cultural celebration in the U.S. It draws more than two million spectators to 5th Avenue in Manhattan.

Mr. Mirabal was also the founder of the Puerto Rico Disaster Reconstruction Fund which helped Mother Teresa's Sisters of Charity build a home in June 1988 for homeless elderly persons in the community of El Tuque, in Ponce, Puerto Rico. The home now provides full time care for eighty elderly men and women through the efforts of volunteers.