The NHCLC, also known as the Hispanic Evangelical Association, the nation's largest Christian Hispanic organization, stated in January that their primary horizontal focus for 2012 would be education with a goal of 25% Hispanic enrollment in Secondary education by end of this year. The NHCLC partners with Christian universities and colleges through their education directive and their Hispanic Education Alliance.

Faith For Change is a National non-profit that connects communities of faith with high needs schools to decrease the dropout rate nationally and promote academic excellence. Founder and Executive Director for Faith For Change (www.faithforchange.org), Rev. Romal J. Tune, said, "We are excited to be collaborating with the NHCLC in decreasing the national dropout rate. Our partnership on this initiative is a pivotal and progressive step forward in winning the future for all our children."

Rev. Romal J. Tune has been appointed as a member of the NHCLC Educational Directive Task-force and will be a presenter at the Indiana Wesleyan October Summit where the National Hispanic Education Alliance will gather on October 17, 2012 for their annual conference. In addition, NHCLC will work with FFC to disseminate their Faith For Change Graduation Ministry toolkit.

Dr. Gus Reyes, Director of Hispanic Education Initiative/Affinity Ministries for the Baptist General Convention of Texas and Director of the NHCLC Education Directive, said, "Faith For Change brings a turn key tool box of resources to support the NHCLC effort to thwart the drop-out rate. I welcome this leader, his passion, and resources."

Romal Tune grew up in the inner-city and experienced the tragic death of his seven week-old cousin Glenn Molex, III, who was killed by a stray bullet in a random drive-by shooting, which served as the impetus for his committed and passionate work with local and national organizations across the country addressing critical social and cultural issues facing communities.

Faith For Change's mission is to organize and create a well-resourced faith community committed to developing and implementing sound and creative programs that assist public schools in teaching children; advocate on public education reform that seeks to well resource and fund public schools; create powerful networks of schools, houses of worship, and community organizations through the Community School model; increase public education advocacy and direct action among congregants and students and engage congregations and students in the decision making process that impacts academic success.

His journey spans from the streets of northern California to the United States Army during the Gulf War, Desert Storm (1989-1992) to the ranks of honor graduates at Howard University and Duke University School of Divinity to the pulpits of leading congregations around the country. While attending Duke, Rev. Tune was the first student to create a model for reaching local neighborhood youth who were involved in gang activity. He drew on his theological curriculum and community activism by engaging churches in outreach through this innovative program.

Rev. Tune is also President & CEO of Clergy Strategic Alliances, LLC (CSA) that is also headquartered in Washington, DC. Through CSA he has cultivated a diverse network of political, community and clerical alliances, which span various fields of community organizing. He has worked with and consulted for the Democratic National Committee, United Way Worldwide, Congressional Black Caucus, Black Entertainment Television, and Center for Children's Law and Policy, and America's Promise as well as numerous other organizations working on issues in urban communities. According to Minyon Moore, principal of the Dewey Square Group and former Clinton White House Political Director, he is doing "the most impressive social and civic justice work of this century...to empower communities by involving them in civic and social justice work around the country."

In addition to being a writer for Huffington Post, Rev. Tune was recently featured in Christian Century Magazine and in a feature article from the America's Promise Alliance as an "Organizations to Watch," because of his work at Faith For Change.  

FFC and the NHCLC have plans to also collaborate on black/brown summit on education in DC in 2012.

The National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference is the Hispanic Evangelical Association unifying, serving and representing the Hispanic Born Again Community via 40,118 member churches and 16 million constituents by reconciling the vertical and horizontal of the Christian message through the 7 Directives of Life, Family, Great Commission, Stewardship, Justice, Education and Youth.