Founded in 2021, the HSP Alumni Network (HAN) creates regular programming and unique networking opportunities for HSP Alumni. HAN also serves as a key conversation partner for the HSP as we live out our vision and mission.
HSP Alumni Network
HAN Highlights
- Ability to join HAN Council and shape programming
- Access to regional gatherings
- Invitation to Speaker Series
- Dedicated HAN gatherings at HSP events
- Unique networking opportunities
- Visibility on website and relevant materials
HAN Description
Founded in 2021, the HSP Alumni Network (HAN) is led by a council comprised of HSP alumni and creates regular programming and unique networking opportunities for HSP Alumni. HAN also serves as a key conversation partner for the HSP as we live out our vision and mission. HAN’s work extends across four bold areas outlined below.
Awarded annually, The Rev. Dr. Daisy L. Machado, Ph.D HSP Alumni Award for Latine Theological Leadership honors an alumnus of the Hispanic Scholars Program whose work reflects Machado’s legacy through service to Latine communities, innovative leadership, academic excellence, and a commitment to social justice.
The Latine Global Solidarity Series (LGSS) is an annual three-part webinar series that brings together scholars and activists from around the world to explore the intersections of faith, social justice, and Latine communities. Each year’s themes are chosen by alumni, who read the signs of the times and discern what their community most needs to hear. Past series have covered topics like Latine faith and student movements, immigration, and eco-justice.
Past Webinar Recordings
The HAN microgrant supports the vocational goals of HSP Alumni. Since its launch in 2022, rising financial pressures have made these grants more vital than ever. The HAN council helps emerging scholars and practitioners build skills at the crossroads of faith communities, academia, and public life. Preference is given to requests that strengthen alumni’s vocational paths—especially those related to Latine contexts. Examples include workshop training, book purchases, spiritual direction, and conference attendance.
Beginning in 2025, the HSP Sub-committee on Fundraising and Development brings together three to four members of the HSP Alumni Network each year for hands-on training in fundraising, supporting the broader development efforts of HSP.
Participants will attend El Semillero: Executive Certificate in Religious Fundraising and, as a collective, pursue the program’s professional certificate—awarded by the Lake Institute on Faith and Giving at Indiana University’s Lilly Family School of Philanthropy—through a project tied to donor fundraising at HSP.
Connect With HAN
Are you an HSP Alumni? Fill out the form to get connected and learn about our ongoing opportunities!
HAN Council Members
Janay Salcedo-Kinsey, LMSW, M.Div.
Janay, a native New Yorker and first-generation Dominican-American, is a psychotherapist at Manhattan Mindful. With a Master of Divinity from Union Theological Seminary and a Master of Social Work from Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College, she has spent the past decade exploring the intersections of storytelling, trauma, and community building. A core organizer at Common Ground Collective, she thrives on fostering vulnerability, deepening connections, and activating creativity through theology and practice. As founding President of the Hispanic Scholar Program Alumni Network, she cherishes gathering with alumni to reflect on the program’s impact on their journeys and vocations.
Talina Sarmiento Beck, M.T.S
Talina was born and raised in Mexico City. She came into the U.S. and has lived in Virginia since 2010. She is a deacon candidate in the United Methodist Church and graduated with a Masters of Theology from Wesley Theological Seminary in 2023. She currently works at the Chesterfield Public Libraries where her work and contributions aim to make library services more accessible and attractive to those in disadvantage in the community. She lives with her partner and their four boys at Chesterfield, VA where she enjoys time outdoors and cocina latina.
Mari Ramler, Ph.D.
Mari Ramler is an Associate Professor of English at Tennessee Technological University, where she teaches courses in the rhetoric of religion, science, and technology. Her scholarship has been featured in Rhetoric Society Quarterly, Journal of Communication and Religion, Technical Communication Quarterly, Constellations, Textshop Experiments, Capacious, Dialog: A Journal of Theology, and Screen Bodies: The Journal of Embodiment, Media Arts, and Technology, in addition to the edited collections COVID Communication and The Routledge Handbook of Queer Rhetoric.
Larry Figueroa, M.Div.
Larry is an alumni of various HSP programs including summer sessions, the discernment workshop, and the Discernment cohort. In 2021, a group of alumni began the process of creating what is now the HSP Alumni Network (HAN) which Larry now serves as the president (2023-2026). Larry is a graduate of Western Theological Seminary where he earned his M.Div., and is currently a PhD student at Union Theological Seminary in Hebrew Bible.
Anthony Cruz Pantojas, MATS, MALS, BCC,
Anthony Cruz Pantojas, MATS, MALS, BCC, (they/them) is a spiritual director and the Humanist Chaplain and Coordinator of Africana Spirituality at Tufts University. Anthony supports the exploration and development of ethical inquiry, promotes critical thinking and self-discovery, and inspires individuals to question and reimagine their inner and outer worlds.
