Nicole is a fourth generation Philadelphian who brings a decade of union and community organizing experience in Southeastern Pennsylvania working alongside low wage immigrants and workers to win improvements in their lives and build long-term social movements. He is now a Senior Nonresident Fellow for the Program for Research on Religion and Urban Civil Society at the University of Pennsylvania. Cortés has received three honorary doctorates: two in divinity, from the Moravian Theological Seminary and Palmer Theological Seminary, and one in humane letters from Eastern University.

Cortés graduated with honors from City College, NY, earned a Master of Divinity as an Urban Theology Fellow from Union Theological Seminary, and a master’s degree in Economic Development from Southern New Hampshire University.

His life’s work is dedicated to empowering others to acquire a solid education and economic stability. Cortés credits his childhood experiences, a stable family life and the Latino faith community for his commitment and determination to improve the conditions of the broader community. Under his leadership, Esperanza has grown from a small, 20-person operation to more than 450 employees and a $40 million annual operating budget. Cortés is now sought by national and international leaders alike on issues of economic and workforce development, housing, immigration, and education. Leading what began as a local initiative, with programs targeted to address the unmet needs of Philadelphia’s Latino community, Rev. Today, with a national network of more than 13,000 Hispanic faith and community-based organizations, Esperanza is one of the leading voices for Latinos in America. Cortés founded Esperanza in 1986, with support from the Hispanic Clergy of Philadelphia.

Driven by the biblical mandate to serve and advocate for “the least of these” (Matthew 25:40), Rev. is the Founder, President and CEO of Esperanza, the premiere Hispanic faith-based Evangelical network in the United States.

That's My Boy by José Luis Cortés