Raul Yzaguirre

Early life

Yzaguirre was born to Mexican American parents Ruben Antonio and Eva Linda (Morin) Yzaguirre and grew up in the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas. Yzaguirre states that some of his first memories of social injustice involved what his grandmother called a "race war" in Texas. Mexican Americans lived under a curfew at that time and Yzaguirre's grandfather was almost lynched one night when coming home after dark from his second job.

In 1958, he enlisted in the U.S. Air Force Medical Service and served for four years.

He attended George Washington University.

His name has sometimes been spelled Izaguirre.

National Council of La Raza

In 1968, the Southwest Council of La Raza was organized with funding from the Ford Foundation. By 1972, the organization had changed its name to the National Council for La Raza and moved its offices to Washington, D.C. In 1997, the Ford Foundation, the NCLR's sole funding source, demanded a change in the organization's focus and direction by threatening to withhold funding and forced its president, Henry Santiestevan, out of office.

In 1974, Yzaguirre was elected the second president of the NCLR. The Ford Foundation was pleased with Yzaguirre and continued to be a top donor of the NCLR throughout his term.

Under Yzaguirre, the organization grew from a regional advocacy group with 17 affiliates to over 300 that serve 41 states, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia. Yzaguirre expanded membership criteria so it was not limited only to ethnic Mexicans, but also included Puerto Ricans, Dominicans, Argentines, Cubans, Venezuelans and all other Hispanic subgroups. This paved the way for the National Council for La Raza to open offices in Chicago, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Sacramento, San Antonio, and San Juan. Since then NCLR has added offices in New York and Atlanta.

Through his tenure Yzaguirre built the NCLR into a 35,000 members organization, with revenues exceeding $3 million, from a combination of contributions from American corporations, philanthropic foundations, federal funding, and private member donations.

He was fired as chair of the Hispanic Advisory Commission to the Immigration and Naturalization Service for publicly criticizing President Carter’s immigration reform proposals. Yzaguirre also criticized President George H.W. Bush for his affirmative action stance even after he had agreed to be the first sitting president to appear at an NCLR Annual Conference. Yzaguirre criticized President Clinton for appointing very few Hispanics to key positions and for the 1996 welfare reform law which NCLR considered detrimental to the Hispanic community and resigned as chair of the President's Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans in protest of political machinations.

On November 30, 2009, President Barack Obama nominated Yzaguirre to be U.S. Ambassador to the Dominican Republic. His appointment was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on September 29, 2010. His service in that post ended on May 29, 2013.

Council on Foreign Relations

Yzaguirre is a lifetime member and serves on the Member Selection Committee of the David Rockefeller-headed Council on Foreign Relations. and was a member of the Independent Task Force on North America.

The Raul Yzaguirre Policy Institute

The Raul Yzaguirre Policy Institute operates out of the University of Texas-Pan American and was named after Yzaguirre. Its stated goal is,"To inform policy, and the civic leaders who frame it, for the benefit of the Hispanic community and the nation as a whole." The institute primarily receives corporate and government funding, continuing Yzaguirre's commitment to bringing corporate interests and government interests together. Its new facilities were partially funded with a 2005 Department of Education earmark of $635,000.

The advisory council of the institute represent a who's who of government and corporate elite, including politicians such as Hillary Clinton, John McCain, former President of Mexico Ernesto Zedillo whose role at the institute will be to provides expertise to the “global perspectives” area of work for the institute. As well as corporate leaders of UPS, Coca-Cola and Frito-Lay.

Position at Arizona State University

As part of Michael Crow's commitment to a "New American University" at Arizona State University, he appointed Yzaguirre to the position of presidential professor of practice in community development and civil rights at ASU. One of the boards that he serves on at ASU is the North American Center of Transborder Studies (NACTS) which has a goal of advancing teaching and research on North American regional integration by providing a space for professionals in the university, policy and business communities to share information about the region and encourage instructors to incorporate North American content into their courses.

The NACTS is a project of the Pan American Partnership for Business Education, the Council of the Americas, and the Kansas City International Affairs and Trade Office, which is part of North America’s SuperCorridor Coalition (NASCO).

Board memberships

Yzaguirre is a member of the boards of the Volunteers of America; Sears, Roebuck & Co.; United Way of America; AARP Services Inc.; National Hispanic Leadership Agenda; and Salvation Army.

Awards and honors

In 1979, Yzaguirre was the first Hispanic to receive a Rockefeller Public Service Award for Outstanding Public Service, endowed by John D. Rockefeller, Jr. from the trustees of Princeton University.

Yzaguirre received the Order of the Aztec Eagle in 1993, the highest honor awarded by Mexico to citizens of another nation.

The NCLR headquarters building in Washington, D.C., was named after him in 2005.