The Hispanic Interest Coalition of Alabama (¡HICA!) was founded in 1999. After years of leading it, Isabel Rubio, founder and chief executive officer of ¡HICA!, has given her throne to Dr. Carlos Enrique Alemán.

No matter how much Spanish Rubio knows, she ran ¡HICA! for more than two decades. In the beginning, it was one person against all the odds. Today it is a staff of many professionals who serve more than 5,000 people each year. During her time at the helm, Rubio also raised more than $19 million to support Latinos with college access, citizenship, access to capital, small business development, entrepreneurship and home ownership.

The new CEO, Dr. Alemán, has traveled throughout the United States yet is originally from Nicaragua. At a young age, due to a civil war in his home country in 1982, his family fled to San Francisco, where he was raised. He later went to City College of San Francisco in 2000, University of California, Santa Cruz in 2002 and then moved to Michigan to receive his doctorate’s degree from Michigan State University in 2012.

Life then put him in the classroom in Atlanta at Samford University, where he was from 2013 to 2018.

That year, Dr. Alemán joined ¡HICA!’s team as deputy director. As deputy director, Dr. Alemán was responsible for programs and internal operations. 

He has built an understanding during his time with the organization that the primary objective is to help new immigrants and existing families grow and thrive.

“As an immigrant who came to this country as a child, I have realized many opportunities because my family relied on organizations like ¡HICA! I feel a deep sense of responsibility and gratitude to every person who walks through ¡HICA!’s doors because I know firsthand what it means to be welcomed,” Dr. Alemán said. 

Four years later, he will now lead the organization as its CEO. 

“It is an honor and a privilege to step into the chief executive officer role at ¡HICA! It is a dream come true for me,” Dr. Alemán said.

I look forward to serving our community and working with our terrific team as we lead ¡HICA! into its next era,” Dr. Alemán added.

His predecessor also had some words of praise for the new CEO, as he also reflected on the work that has been done over the past 20-plus years. 

“I am proud of our accomplishments, especially creating a place that welcomes, embraces and empowers our Latino community to achieve their dreams and aspirations,” Isabel Rubio said. “I am deeply grateful for the support ¡HICA! has received. I look forward to supporting Carlos and the Board of Directors as ¡HICA! continues its high level of service to the community.”