One face in that migration belongs to Ivan "Kohar" Parra, 36, the dynamic leader of the non-profit North Carolina Latino Coalition based here.  A native of Bogotá, Columbia, Parra married an American and moved here in 1995.

"I worked for the Hispanic Center, helping low income Hispanics in Durham.  We were in the basement of St. Andrews Episcopal Church.  I was executive director, the grant writer, the painter, everything," he laughs.

The Center had a budget of about $3,000.  It now has a downtown location many times larger and a budget of almost $1 million.  And 5,000 members.

Parra quickly learned the power that such numbers command, and he has shown a skillful politician's talent for enlarging his community's voice.  That voice first gained attention here in 1997 when Parra organized a series of public meetings with city officials.

"There were some public safety issues with the police and a lack of access to financial institutions and an understanding of our own rights," Parra recalls.  He had student volunteers distribute flyers announcing the meetings.  "We expected about 50 people and 350 came."

City officials and business people can count, and they began to pay attention.  City police hired three Spanish speakers; banks began to sell their services to the growing community of Hispanic depositors; and Parra helped establish a Latino branch of the Self Help Credit Union.

He also recognized that there was a need for a broader Hispanic organization, and he formed the NC Latino Coalition in 2002.  To get the Coalition started, he received seed money from the Credit Union.  Then, he went looking for new leaders who were emerging from Hispanic communities around the state.

"I'm interested in creating a coalition to change things in the community.  I meet with people, churches, neighborhood associations," he says, illustrating how he brings "time, talent and passion" to his group. "We're in 32 counties and now have 58 groups that belong.  Everyone has a piece in the decision making."

He told his organization's story to about 300 other non-profit groups, most of them small givers that met recently in the Research Triangle Park.  The conference was sponsored by NCGives, an iniative based in Raleigh.

Parra believes that many of the new Hispanic community groups will require assistance and that it will come from the philanthropy sector.  He will help them make those connections.

Parra's goals for Latinos are to improve housing for migrant workers, access to health care, entry into colleges, and to work for comprehensive immigration reform.  Last year, his Coalition held a statewide meeting in Raleigh to which 1,000 people came including four bishops, business and political leaders.

He's clearly moved up from the basement.