For the second year in a row, State Farm is issuing a $1 million grant to the Educational Fund of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO). But the carrier’s commitment to the NALEO doesn’t end with the money.

Building on the successful 2008 Ya Es Hora (It’s Time) citizenship and voter engagement campaign, the NALEO Educational Fund and State Farm have agreed to continue to empower Latinos through increased civic engagement and educational opportunities.

“We engaged with NALEO last year based on a simple premise: everyone counts and everyone has a dream,” said Mike Fernandez, vice president of public affairs at State Farm. “Due in part to the Ya Es Hora effort, nearly a half million Latinos became U.S. citizens last year, nearly a million new Latinos registered to vote, and more Latinos than ever actually voted.”

Thousands of bilingual State Farm agent offices across the U.S. will provide citizenship and voter engagement information to the Latino community and participate in activities like citizenship workshops and voter participation drives.

“State Farm continues to be a good neighbor with its contribution to the Ya Es Hora program, as well as with its vast network of caring agents,” said Arturo Vargas, executive director of the NALEO Educational Fund.

State Farm’s support of the NALEO Educational Fund and its Ya Es Hora program is part of a larger community relations effort, “State Farm Es Para Mí”™ (State Farm Is For Me). This effort supports a number of activities in the Latino community associated with citizenship, education, and culture. Participating State Farm agent offices with Spanish-speaking personnel serve as a trusted resource for civic and educational information for Latinos.

In addition, State Farm has worked with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute (CHCI) to provide Latino students with scholarship and internship information through participating State Farm agent offices. Last year, the company provided nearly $150,000 in State Farm Es Para Mí educational mini-grants to community non-profits and schools intent on keeping young people in school and improving education.

State Farm has long been a partner of the NALEO Educational Fund. “They have been particularly instrumental in the NALEO Educational Fund’s ability to improve the capacity of Latino policymakers to shape public policies that help eliminate the academic achievement gap between Latino and non-Latino students,” Vargas said.

State Farm works closely with NALEO and its educational efforts through the NALEO Education Leadership Initiative (NELI), providing leadership development training and resources to more than 1,000 Latino school board members and state legislators in 30 states.

At NALEO’s 26th Annual Conference, State Farm sponsored the National Leadership Luncheon on June 27, and a public policy panel focused on improving educational opportunities for Latinos.