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Aug. 11, 2021

Note: To read the full tribute to Alfred Diaz-Infante and Give to the Alfred Diaz-Infante Memorial Legacy Fund, visit a dedicated page on the Hartnell College Foundation website.

Alfred Diaz-Infante portraitAs a gifted community leader who was passionate about improving lives and creating opportunity in the Salinas Valley, Alfred Díaz-Infante dedicated himself personally and professionally to Hartnell College in ways that will long endure.

Díaz-Infante, who passed away unexpectedly on Aug. 9 at age 60, was president and CEO of CHISPA (Community Housing Improvement Systems and Planning), Inc., a non-profit developer and provider of affordable housing based in Salinas. Since 1982, CHISPA has built and renovated 2,447 single-family homes and apartments for low- and moderate-income people in Monterey, San Benito and Santa Cruz counties.

He is survived by Elvira, his wife of 31 years; their three grown children, Karina, Alexis and Marcos; and a new grandchild.

“Our hearts go out to the Díaz-Infante family as we share in mourning this immeasurable loss,” said Dr. Raúl Rodríguez, interim superintendent/president of the Hartnell Community College District. “Alfred contributed enormously to Hartnell and our students through his keen intellect, his compassionate spirit and his unyielding determination to help others achieve a brighter future.”

Erica Padilla-Chavez, president of the Hartnell Governing Board, shared condolences to the Díaz-Infante family on behalf of her fellow elected board members.

“We are beyond saddened to learn of our Alfred's passing,” Padilla-Chavez said. “His contributions to advancing the mission of our college are numerous. Above all, the friendships, and relationships he built are the most meaningful. As an alumnus, Alfred was a proud Panther but most importantly a proud son of the Salinas Valley. All of us are better people because of him.”

Among a breadth of community service, Díaz-Infante served on the Hartnell College Foundation Board of Directors from 2007-17, including as board president from 2011-15. He also was co-chair of both the goal-setting President’s Task Force and the Measure T Bond Committee, which led community support for a $167 million construction bond that continues to transform the college. He rejoined the foundation board in 2019 and was a current member of its Salinas Valley Promise Program Committee and co-chair of a newly formed Student Basic Needs Task Force.

Diaz-Infante accepts Leadership AwardDíaz-Infante was recognized in 2019 as a Distinguished Alumni by the Hartnell Governing Board, and the preceding year he received the Leadership Award from the Hartnell College Foundation for his positive impact on the entire Central Coast region (pictured).

The proud son of farmworkers who instilled their belief in the power of both education and home ownership, Díaz-Infante graduated from Hartnell in 1984 and went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in finance and an M.B.A. in real estate and land use economics from the University of California, Berkeley.

His commitment to education was exemplified by the family’s decision in 2017 to endow a scholarship inspired by his parents and those of his wife. The Díaz-Infante Family Scholarship Endowment is provided to Hartnell students who are farmworkers or children of farmworkers, low-income and pursuing a career in business, engineering, health care, communications or education.

In an interview this March, Díaz-Infante described the scholarship endowment as a way to “create a culture of giving” to honor the legacy of love and sacrifice that proved so transformative in his family’s life.

“It was important for my three children and the rest of the family to learn that, thanks to my parents, they get to live here and have all the opportunities given to them,” he said.

In loving memory of Diaz-Infante, the Hartnell College Foundation has also established a new Alfred Díaz-Infante Memorial Legacy Fund.

Díaz-Infante continually served as an inspiring example of his own, said Judith Sulsona, current president of the Hartnell College Foundation board. In addition to his many roles, she cited his instrumental part in planning for a 2017 award of land to Hartnell from the Matsui family, the most significant gift in college history.

“Our hearts are broken on the loss of our dear friend,” Sulsona said. “Alfred was a courageous and transformational leader whose unwavering commitment to the well-being of the youth and families of the Salinas Valley set an example for us all. His leadership and heart are woven into everything the Hartnell College Foundation has set in motion for our students.”

Diaz-Infante and familyFormer Hartnell foundation board president Kurt Gollnick described Díaz-Infante as a “pocket full of riches” because he could always be counted on in any circumstance. “His work at HCF is just one example of his grace and gift,” Gollnick said.

Added Sulsona, “We offer sincere condolences to his family, staff and to our entire community. Alfred was a kind, humble and generous human being – and an exemplary son, husband and father. We will miss him and honor his memory through our work on behalf of the community he loved so much.”

In addition to his work with CHISPA and Hartnell, Díaz-Infante was serving on the board of Housing California and the California Coalition for Rural Housing and the Monterey Bay Regional Economic Partnership. He was a former member of the Monterey County Planning Commission, the Advisory Committee of the Salinas Valley Basin Groundwater Sustainability Agency and the Salinas Valley Memorial Healthcare System board.

Díaz-Infante was a trustee of several local nonprofit and educational institution boards, including the Community Foundation for Monterey County, the Big Sur Land Trust, York School and Salinas Regional Sports Authority, and a past board member of the Youth Orchestra Salinas (YoSal).

His many honors include the 2015 Salinas Valley Chamber of Commerce Citizen of the Year Award and the 2013 Distinguished Fellow Award from California State University, Monterey Bay for his work in community and public service. In 2004, he received the Ben Heller Award for Leadership and Courage from the Center for Community Advocacy (CCA), a non-profit organization dedicated to improving housing conditions and opportunities for farm workers and other low-income families in Monterey and Santa Cruz counties.