The NALEO Educational FundCurrent Program Priorities

Established in 1976, the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) is a 501(c)(4) nonpartisan membership organization whose constituency includes the nation’s more than 6,000 elected and appointed Latino officials.

The National Association of Latino Elected & Appointed Officials

• Eligible to attend NALEO Policy Institutes

• Travel Scholarships (based on availability) for NALEO Policy Institutes

• Networking Opportunities

• Webinars on Policy Issues

• Access to NALEO Ed Fund Staff for technical assistance

• NALEO Annual Conference Registration Discount

• A copy of the National Directory of Latino Elected Officials

• Copies of NALEO Publications

Benefits of NALEO Membership

• Value in cross-jurisdictional trainings and policy conversations

• Value in developing a national network of colleagues, for both policy expertise and political support

• Access to leading policy experts across numerous sectors (government, non-profit, research, etc.)

• Access to federal officials and political leaders

• Value in networking with corporate and foundation representatives

• “Safe space” to learn and share the Latino policymaker experience and values, regardless of party affiliation

The Membership Experience

The NALEO Educational Fund is the nation’s leading 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that facilitates full Latino participation in the American political process, from citizenship to public service.

Established in 1981, the NALEO Educational Fund is governed by a 15-member Board of Directors.

The NALEO Educational Fund achieves this mission through three major strategies:

The NALEO Educational Fund

Policy, Research & Advocacy Constituency Services Civic Engagement

The NALEO Educational Fund’s Policy, Research and Advocacy Department promotes policies which further Latino access to the political process, and provides the public with accurate and relevant information about Latino political engagement and impact.

The NALEO Educational Fund focuses on five major policy areas:• Naturalization and Immigration Reform• Census• Election Reform, Voting Rights, and Governance• Redistricting• Latino Appointments

Policy, Research and Advocacy (PRA)

The NALEO Educational Fund’s policy priorities include:

•Ensuring that the naturalization process is affordable and accessible, for both current and potential legal permanent residents, which includes promoting a sustainable fee and financing structure for immigration services.

•Promoting more effective immigrant integration strategies.

•Ensuring that comprehensive immigration reform includes a meaningful path to U.S. citizenship.

•Combating unfair state and local anti-immigrant measures.

•Assessing whether proposals which provide undocumented immigrants with protected status that does not confer full legal permanent residency are in the best interests of the Latino community.

Naturalization & Immigration Reform

The NALEO Educational Fund’s policy priorities include:

•Ensuring that the Census Bureau collects and disseminates the most accurate information possible about the nation’s Latino population

•Ensuring that the Census Bureau effectively conducts its major programs, including the evaluation of Census 2010, the preparation for Census 2020 and the implementation of the American Community Survey.

•Ensuring that the Census Bureau has the funding needed to carry out the foregoing responsibilities.

•Ensuring that the Census Bureau maintains and strengthens its Partnership Program between decennial Censuses.

The Census

The NALEO Educational Fund’s policy priorities include:

•Combating unfair restrictions on voting and voter registration.

•Ensuring that the Department of Justice (DOJ) implements effective outreach and enforcement efforts with respect to jurisdictions that are required to provide language assistance to Latino voters under the Voting Rights Act (VRA).

•Ensuring that the Department of Justice (DOJ) carefully scrutinizes new redistricting maps, and takes appropriate enforcement action under the VRA against discriminatory plans.

•Ensuring that enhancements to election practices and procedures (such as on-line voter registration, Election Day registration, and new voting technology) are implemented in a manner that promote Latino access to the electoral process.

Election Reform, Voting Rights, and Governance

The NALEO Educational Fund’s redistricting project included: •Mobilization of Latino community members in California, Nevada and Central Florida to effectively participate in the statewide redistricting process.

•Mobilization of Latino parents to participate in the LAUSD redistricting.

•Advocacy to ensure that line-drawers conducted open and accessible redistricting processes.

•Advocacy to ensure that line-drawers adopted maps that complied with the VRA and provided Latinos with fair electoral opportunities.

Redistricting Mobilization & Advocacy

The NALEO Educational Fund’s appointments activities include: •Advocacy to promote the appointment of qualified Latinos to top executive and judicial positions.

•Advocacy to endorse or oppose individual nominees for specific positions related to our core mission areas, consistent with principles adopted by our Board of Directors.

•Technical assistance on the federal appointments process.

Appointments

The Department disseminates several publications that serve as resources on Latino political progress and participation including:

• National Directory of Latino Elected Officials

• Latino Election Handbook

• Election Profiles

• Surveys and Reports

Publications

The NALEO Educational Fund’s Constituency Services Department (CS) promotes the governance and policymaking success of Latino elected and appointed officials. Our vision is to see Latino elected and appointed officials shape and better American society.

The Constituency Services Department provides training through three major components:

•The biennial NALEO National Institute for Newly Elected Officials

•Regional and National NALEO Policy Institutes, with ongoing focus on Education and Health

•The NALEO Annual Conference

Constituency Services (CS)

The goal of the NALEO Policy Institutes is to enhance policymakers’ skills in the following governance areas:

• Coordination & Use of Data

• Finance & Budget Analysis

• Content Competency• Program Evaluation• Messaging &

Communication• Navigating Politics

Governance Competencies

Education

NALEO Education Leadership Initiative (NELI)

Health

Healthy Communities Initiative

NALEO California Health Leadership Program (NCHLP)

Emgering and Current Issues

Redistricting, Family Economic Success, Energy, Emergency Preparedness

Partnership with Institutions of Higher Learning

Economic Policy Institute - Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University

Program Areas

The National Institute is our biennial “boot camp” to give newly elected officials a chance to learn, share and develop core governance and leadership skills as they begin their lives as public servants. 

Since 1996, nearly 400 newly elected officials have participated in this training, some as repeat participants after being elected to higher office.

Topics covered during the training include: First steps after an election, communications and media, ethics, the legislative process, budgeting, the policymaking process.

National Institute for Newly Elected Officials

The nation’s largest gathering of Latino elected and appointed officials.

The NALEO Annual Conference provides professional development specifically tailored for Latino elected and appointed officials.

The NALEO Annual Conference provides direct access to our nation's top executive and legislative leaders.

The Conference provides a networking opportunity for NALEO members, corporate and foundation representatives, and other leaders.

Conference session content is informed by Annual Member Survey and NALEO Board Program Committee.

NALEO Annual Conference

The NALEO Educational Fund’s Civic Engagement program works towards full participation of Latinos in the American political process by promoting naturalization, electoral participation, and Census promotion. The department works at the community level, and through local, regional, and national strategic partnerships.

 

Harry P. PachónCivic Engagement Program (CE)

Citizenship Promotion &Assistance Program

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Direct Assistance – LPRs can visit NALEO offices to receive direct assistance with their naturalization applications, or visit NALEO-run workshops.

Information Provision and Promotion – a long-standing relationships with Spanish-language media helps promote the value of citizenship, and direct the public to a live bilingual hotline and website

Local Capacity-Building – to take its expertise to scale, the NALEO Educational Fund provides deep technical assistance and training to local CBOs for naturalization promotion and assistance efforts.

Promotion of U.S. citizenship, and assistance with the naturalization process, is essential in the effort to increase Latino political participation.

More than 4 million Latino Legal Permanent Residents (LPRs) are eligible to naturalize. If they all naturalized, the Latino potential electorate would increase by more than 10% nationwide.

Many LPRs wait a decade or more before pursing naturalization, and despite efforts to reverse the trend, the number of new LPRs each year typically exceeds the number of naturalizations.

Current Landscape for Citizenship Promotion & Assistance

2012 - 2013Citizenship Initiatives

Ongoing Direct Assistance – in addition to limited services from our Houston, Los Angeles, and New York Offices, NALEO is organizing several workshops across the country in 2012.

Capacity-Building and Technical Assistance – through strategic sub-grants and ongoing technical training, NALEO is working with local CBOs in Charlotte, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, and New York to build capacity for workshops.

Community and Stakeholder Resources – NALEO’s civic engagement hotline and website continue to provide relevant and accessible information to potential and actual applicants, connect them with local low-cost/free services, and provide training materials and information to community organizations for promotion and/or assistance.

Research – NALEO is leading research projects to assess the feasibility of new outreach and assistance delivery models, and original research on the barriers to naturalization, and messaging to increase naturalization applications.

New American Collaboration – NALEO is a lead organization in the NAC, alongside APALC, CLINIC, ILRC, IRC, NIF and others. Supported by Carnegie, the Knight Foundation, OSF and other national funders, the effort provides opportunity for NALEO to secure its national leadership role, and sustained funding for its naturalization efforts.

Special Initiatives – with support from the Haas Jr. Foundation, NALEO is building sustainable capacity for naturalization assistance and CE in the Inland Empire. In LA, NALEO will be leading the strategy, coordination, and technical support for the California Community Foundation’s mass-naturalization effort.

2012 - 2013Citizenship Initiatives

Voter Engagement Program

Direct Mobilization – Our GOTV program focuses on low-propensity Latino voters ,and voter registration efforts on online and site-based registration. Combined, they have reached hundreds of thousands of Latinos .

Education & Outreach – NALEO’s year-round 888-VE-Y-VOTA hotline, yaeshora.info website, and mass-media campaigns connect Latinos to the information they need, and the invitation to participate.

Innovation & Leadership – The program is recognized as a leader in data-driven evaluation, research, collaboration, capacity-building, and protecting Latino voters’ rights.

Current Landscape for Latino Participation

2012 – 2013 Voter Engagement Initiatives

Mass Outreach – the 2012 ya es hora campaign is the biggest and most comprehensive to date. New endeavors using digital and social media will expand reach beyond traditional Spanish-speaking audiences, and connect resources to voters.

GOTV & VR – NALEO will be registering 75,000 Latinos, and targeting 255,000 Latino voters for its 2012 GOTV efforts. Primary states are AZ, CA, FL, NY, and TX.

Voter Protection – In response to new suppressive regulation, NALEO will develop and distribute community-focused materials, devote special media outreach, and build stakeholder knowledge via trainings on voter rights issues.

Collaboration – NALEO is a key partner of the NLCET, EPC, ya es hora, and coordinating with local partners and tables nationwide for maximization of reach and voter contact. We will continue to build and refine our local capacity-building infrastructures throughout 2012.

Research – Barrier ID and messaging focus groups and poll findings will be tested in-field, shared with other stakeholders, and serve as foundation for NALEO’s “Great Unengaged” initiative.

2012 – 2013 Voter Engagement Initiatives