Increase Our Impact

The challenges facing our community are tremendous and require a systemic approach to changing the structures that perpetuate inequity. Challenges, as reported by the Metro Boston Indicators Project, MA State Dept of Ed and the Boston BRA, include:

There is a more than twofold gap between median White and Latino household incomes.
Nearly three quarters of Black/African American and Latino students attend high-poverty schools, while just over 10% of Whites do.
White and Asian 10th graders score “proficient” or “advanced” on the math MCAS at rates nearly double those of Latinos and Blacks/African Americans.
Graduates rates for Latinos in the region were almost 12 points lower as those for Whites.
While fewer than 10% of Whites lack a high school diploma, roughly 35% of Latinos have not completed high school.
Nearly 34.8% of Latinos live in poverty compared to 12.7% of Whites.

Our members which make up the Greater Boston Latino Network offer programs and services that address these challenges, but direct services are not enough to change the tide on structural racism. The Foundation Center in collaboration with Hispanics in Philanthropy reported in 2012 that in the last decade, just 1 percent of total foundation funding was designated for agencies that serve Latino communities. Funding levels have remained the same over the past 30 years despite significant growth in the Latino population. This directly affects our work as we struggle year after year to secure funding and continue our work.
GBLN works to unite our members behind a common goal of strengthening our Latino community through strategic leadership development and advocacy. This work will also help our organizations to address the long-time challenge of transitioning to new leadership. GBLN works to build Latino leadership capacity for boards, task forces, and other leadership roles at Latino organizations to facilitate smoother leadership transitions that do not threaten the sustainability of our organizations.

Greater Boston Latino Network will work to Increase Our Impact

Advocate for increased funding for Latino-led and Latino focused organizations:

To build organizational capacity
To strengthen organizational infrastructure
To support organizational development
To plan Executive transitions