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Common Ground

Drawn together to create understanding about Latinos, the writer assesses a new advocacy organization on its first anniversary

In February 2005, I was invited to join the board of a new organization, The Arizona Latino Research Enterprise, or ALRE.

Recently, we sat in a board member's backyard during our end of the year meeting and reflected on what we accomplished last year -- and on the work ahead of us.

Currently, there is an incredibly negative and inflammatory tone in Arizona regarding Latinos, as opposed to understanding and appreciating the significance of our contributions.  So ALRE posed the rhetorical questions:  Who are we and what have Latinos contributed in the areas of politics, art, culture, education, business and as citizens.

ALRE's mission is ambitious:  To influence the dialogue about who Latinos are, identify the issues of primary concern and thoughtfully address both.  The goals we set together with ALRE's membership were equally lofty:  To effect positive change throughout Arizona in the areas of political empowerment and education.  And clearly, during our time in Arizona history, this is a significant challenge. 

Founding an organization is one thing.  Making it work and last is another.  From the beginning, however, this mix of individuals struck me as different from existing organizations in both composition and approach to tackling issues.  They are primarily young (under 45) and professional Latinos from all sides of the political spectrum.  They are incredibly accomplished and do not have the history of battling for a seat at the American table.  In fact, they are comfortable at that table and participate fully, often leading the discussions with their non-Latino peers and colleagues. They are Ph.Ds, attorneys, and graduates of the University of Chicago and USC.  They run major political campaigns and have studied abroad.  Senator John McCain, Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano and the mayors and council members of different cities have them on speed dial.

UNITED BY COMMITMENT

Initially, as a lifelong Democrat from a family of strong political activism in the Valley, I felt a little trepidation about how this would work.  As a diverse board, could we find commonality?  What I learned this past year was that although the spectrum of ideologies and cultural backgrounds was wide, collectively, our sensibilities are Latino.  In the end, all points of view therefore merged into one root question:  How does this affect us as Latinos and Arizonans?  That's when I knew our new organization would endure.  We would stay the course because of our common passion and commitment.

And what we accomplished over the course of one short year, together, tells the story.

ALRE first hosted a series of luncheons with a variety of speakers, all addressing the question, "What Does it Mean to be Latino?" with guests like Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who encouraged us to talk about effecting positive change for all Arizonans.  We invited new ALRE members to identify the primary issues to tackle.  We heard from a prestigious media panel that advised us to be more proactive with the media, so we pitched stories and met with The Arizona Republic editorial board. 

And in September, we held the first ALRE Latino Town Hall where we addressed education and political empowerment.  Participants came from throughout the state and speakers and guests included legislators, the mayors of Phoenix and Scottsdale, as well as the WhoÕs Who of Latino leadership.  Together we opened doors to discuss issues further and laid the groundwork for working together to address important issues.

Today, we are challenged with putting together an action plan for 2006 and our membership and sponsors are eager to hear what's next.

So as we huddled in that backyard boardroom and cast our minds and hearts back to what we had done and forward to the work to be done, I can't help but think that somehow this group, in cooperation with others, will make progress for Arizona.  Positive changes may take a decade or more, but as Martin Samaniego admonished, "meet and work, and meet again; be persistent" and Richard de Uriate of the Republic challenged, "take on uncomfortable issues."

ALRE is working to address the many challenges facing Arizona and the Latino community.  We know, however, that accomplishing our goals will take a passionate, community-wide effort.  We therefore encourage you to join us and look forward to working together to make a difference in Arizona.
 
For information on ALRE, visit www.alre.org.
Lisa Urias is a principal with Urias Torrescande Advertising.