Conversation with Janet Murguía
UnidosUS President & CEO reviewed UnidosUS’s work in 2021, priorities for the coming year, and the critical role that Affiliates will play in expanding our impact in Latino communities across the country. Janet Murguía answers questions from our Affiliates about federal funding, how UnidosUS will advocate for the best use of funds, and how Affiliates can share their stories about what works best to help shape our advocacy and narrative work (Hint: Email your Affiliate Engagement Representative or AE@unidosus.org).
Transforming the economic trajectory for Latinos
Lot Diaz, Vice President of Housing and Community Development, shares UnidosUS’s Big Bet in building the wealth of Latinos by reshaping the homeownership landscape. The presentation outlines key steps UnidosUS is taking to supporting Latinos in achieving homeownership and Affiliates’ role in the process.
Recasting the Latino Narrative
Zandra Zuno Baermann, Senior Vice President Communications and Marketing, outlines UnidosUS’s Narrative Big Bet in achieving full recognition of the Latino community’s place in the country’s progress and the challenges posed by systemic discrimination. The presentation outlines the research, narrative development, efforts so far, and campaigns to come in 2022 including the message manual and training.
Confronting Sustainability Challenges in the New Normal
The pandemic has forced Affiliates into a constant state of change. Now as we enter the "new normal," Affiliates must evaluate their long-term plans for their organization, programs and sustainability. Raza Development Fund’s (RDF) team interviews Affiliates, La Paz Chattanooga and HOLA Ohio, that have participated in RDF’s Affiliate Support Program to discuss challenges and lessons learned on strategic planning during the pandemic and into the future.
Building Capacity for Federal Funding
Pedro Martinez, Senior Strategist for Public Health Preparedness and Response at UnidosUS & Laura Ponce, Executive Director at Project Bravo (El Paso Community Action Program Project) joined in a dynamic conversation on how fellow Affiliates can build on the infrastructure it takes to receive federal funds. Understanding that federal funds can come through many different sources such as directly from federal government, the State, the County, the City, foundations, or directly from an organization such as UnidosUS can better help you prepare to meet all deliverables in the term of your contract. This session pointed to four core areas of preparation: fiscal infrastructure, operational infrastructure, programmatic infrastructure, and monitoring infrastructure.
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Demystifying Racial Equity for Latino Nonprofits
UnidosUS Affiliates, Northwest Side Housing Center (NWSHC) and Gads Hill, share their experiences through this facilitated conversation on how they have implemented racial equity practices in their organizations. While racial equity is a priority to many of us, this conversation explores some of the lessons learned and how to continue to improve as we explore implementing better practices in our own organizations
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Collaborating Locally for Greater Impact
Partnerships help create stronger communities and fostering relationships can be as easy as making a call. Many Affiliates currently exercise great collaborative models and have tools that support growing the organizations network of partners. We had an opportunity to hear from Petra Falcon, Executive Director, Promise Arizona and Elizabeth Lutz, Executive Director for The Health Collaborative in San Antonio, Texas. During this session Elizabeth Lutz shared more on how she leverages resources to extend the mission of The Health Collaborative into a new caliber of service-oriented initiatives that bring together leaders in the field of community health to promote their joint efforts while fostering a shared vision of prosperity for the citizens of Bexar County in San Antonio, Texas. Petra Falcon shared more on how to make connections in the community to mobilize voters to better serve the communities most in need.
Caring for Community Through Staff Mental Health
As we reflect and refuel, we center in the importance staff mental health and wellbeing have on satisfaction, retention, and productivity. Roger Gonzalez, President of CPLC New Mexico outlined strategies his organization has taken on to give staff the flexibility, and support they need to maintain healthy work-life balance while maintaining and sometimes increasing productivity.
Conéctate con UnidosUS
In this session, participants networked with UnidosUS staff to learn about programmatic and policy initiatives and how to get involved. For a list of topics covered visit the table directory, and email AE@Unidosus.org to be connected to any of our UnidosUS table hosts!