National Association of Latino Arts and Culture (NALAC)
34
5
"Up" is the number of experts who agree that the nonprofit has had the most impact in the
field. "Down" is the number of experts who disagree that the nonprofit has had the most impact in field.
Headquarters Location: San Antonio, TX
Founded: 1989
Mission: The National Association of Latino Arts and Culture (NALAC) is the nation’s leading nonprofit organization exclusively dedicated to the promotion, advancement, development, and cultivation of the Latino arts field. In this capacity, NALAC stimulates, facilitates intergenerational dialogues among disciplines, languages, and traditional and contemporary expressions.
Tags:
national, arts & culture, advocacy, chicano/latino community, social equity, leadership development, grantmaking
Summary
Stories
Expert Reviews
Leadership
From the Nonprofit
Leadership
Maria Lopez De Leon.
Maria Lopez De Leon is the Executive Director and a board member of the National Association of Latino Arts and Culture (NALAC). She has over twenty years of multifaceted experience in grass roots community organizing and working with community based organizations across the country. Ms. De Leon is the recipient of the Community and Culture award from San Anto Cultural…
See full bio.
Financial Data
| Overhead Ratio: n/a |
| Total Revenue: $361,945 |
From the Nonprofit
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Contact Info
Address:
1208 Buena Vista St.
San Antonio, TX 78207, USA
Twitter:
Story:
What is the history behind NALAC?
NALAC is an arts service organization that serves the needs of the diverse Latino arts and cultural communities in the United States. The focus of the organization is to provide leadership in advocacy of national policy issues that impact the Latino arts and cultural communities across the nation. NALAC was founded in 1989 by a group of Latino artists, activists and administrators in response to a need for a service organization for Latino arts and cultural organizations and artists in the United States. NALAC serves more than 700 Latino arts organizations and hundreds of artists in diverse communities in the United States. NALAC has contributed to the vitality of cultural and artistic creation in this country by advocating for and providing services to Latino artists and arts and cultural organizations. NALAC services include a grant program, regional and national convenings, and technical assistance programs for artists and arts organizations, a Leadership Institute, publications, and advocacy efforts on behalf of the Latino arts field.
NALAC’s services are not duplicated nationally or regionally by any other funding or service organization and remain critical to the Latino arts field for support, networking, leadership and organizational development, advocacy and cultural policy deliberations. NALAC continues to engage the field in national conversations on diversity within the Latino community, and the need to represent and embrace the aesthetics of that diversity.
(Read more at: http://www.nalac.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=55&Itemid=81)
Expert Reviews of National Association of Latino Arts and Culture (NALAC)
Evidence of Impact Summary:
The National Association of Latino Arts & Culture is cited for holding events and offering other programming to help diverse groups of Latinos involved in the arts. Aside from programming, their advocacy on behalf of these communities is called out as having high impactSee expert comments.
Organization Strengths Summary:
Nearly every respondent praises the group’s leadership and staff. The association's program design was mentioned as a strength nearly as often.See expert comments.
Areas for Improvement Summary:
Opportunities for improvement were mixed across experts. Multiple respondents proposed ways in which the group could expand programming. Funding, leadership, and capacity building were also mentioned as other areas for potential improvement.See expert comments.
Expert Comments: Evidence of Impact
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Impact |
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Their programs support both individual artists and organizations which reflect the broad range of Latino/Hispanic culture. Its leadership institute has been particularly successful in strengthening the capacities of individuals to lead the field. | ||
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The only service organization in the country exclusively dedicated to building up the skills and infrastructure of the Latino arts and culture field. Their annual Leadership Institute is an exemplary model for other service/capacity building entities. They are regranting with high-impact, small grants to artists directly for creation of new works. | ||
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Through thoughtful programming, good strategic thinking and planning, and expertise at the staff and board level, they are demonstrating leadership in the field. Additionally, they have expanded their reach outside the borders of the US to South America. They are not static in their approach to serving their constituency. | ||
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This organization's efforts supporting groups as well as artists have built both a community and the field as a whole. Of particular significance, their bi-annual gatherings allow diverse people to come together instead of working in isolation. Their annual Leadership Institute has cultivated dozens of individuals who run organizations and serve in leadership positions throughout the country. | ||
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This organization has an incredible impact on Latino artists across the country. Their reach extends from companies/groups to individual artists. As well, the group has invested significantly in the leadership development of future generations of arts leaders. Their Leadership Institute has brought new energy and vitality into the performing arts field, bridging the town/gown relationships between community and academic arenas. | ||
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They are a strong and effective advocate for Latino arts organization and artists. Their Effective Leadership Institute and other programs have been impactful. | ||
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This is the defined leader of the Latino arts community. Their work to support the artists and cultural centers in this community is unmatched. | ||
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This is a strong network of Latino artists and arts organizations with effective advocacy, training, convening, and funding programs. | ||
Expert Comments: Organization Strengths
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Nonprofit Senior Staff (N)
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Other (consultants, journalists, policy makers) (O)
Program Design & Leadership |
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Their board and staff leaders have been aggressive in promoting the interests of their constituents in the national arena. They have worked in partnership with a number of other national organizations to expand resources and build visibility. Their re-granting programs are effective with both traditional and contemporary artists and organizations. | ||
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Their engagement of individual artists and Latino arts organizations are strengths. They also have strong volunteer leadership. | ||
Leadership & Collaboration |
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The national board of directors, represents exemplary leadership in the field, with unique perspective and insights on Latino US art practices as a national "field" not just an aggregate of many single organizations locally-based. | ||
Leadership & Staff |
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Bold leadership at the staff level led to them being included in early White House cultural policy discussions. | ||
Leadership |
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Not only does this organization support opportunities for emerging arts professionals, it has an exceptional capacity to honor those leaders in the field who seldom receive the recognition they deserve. This is facilitated by their Executive Director, Maria De Leon, and their very active Board of Directors. It is the network itself that opens doors for artists, scholars and companies to make significant connections that range from producing academic papers to supporting performing arts showcases. | ||
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They continue to strengthen and look for new leadership in the field; they have been growing more excited about the vision and their capacity to fulfill the vision of the organization in recent years. I feel like there was a transition period and they are moving out of it and starting to affect real change. | ||
Partnerships & Advocacy |
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They are interested in creating dynamic partnerships across the arts and social justice field in order to develop more comprehensive services for their community. They also are dedicated to developing relationships with legislators and cultural policy makers to support their work from all perspectives. | ||
Staff & Leadership |
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It has a strong staff and board leadership, strong instructors in its training program, and an impressive group of alumni with a good track record. | ||
Expert Comments: Areas for Improvement
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Foundation Professionals (F)
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Researchers and Faculty (R)
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Nonprofit Senior Staff (N)
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Other (consultants, journalists, policy makers) (O)
Diversity |
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There is a small amount of rigidity in their approach to work around cultural identity which has led to the leadership institute unnecessarily excluding some second generation or "assimilated" people of Latino heritage. | ||
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They could do more to open up their organization to include more African diasporas Latino organizations and artists. | ||
Expand Programming |
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They have their fingers on the pulse of trends and a bird's eye view of Latino arts field but they lack the resources to turn insights into research; that could make them stand out more as a leader. They need to develop research arm and need to market themselves better to their own field with distinct strategies to engage individual artists, small nonprofits, as well as large institutions (now these three elements of its constituency seem disconnected). | ||
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The organization could benefit from expanding its appeal to Spanish speaking communities outside of its base of primarily Latinos in the west and Southwest. Also there is an opportunity for them to connect with Spanish speaking immigrant communities in the South. | ||
Communications |
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They need to do a better job of letting the general public (nationally) know that they exist and how they can help all arts organizations to better connect with our growing Latino community. | ||
Capacity |
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Support for staff (capacity) seems to be a challenge for them. They have a small number of staff members that do the work of a much larger team. While it is growing, it can use some assistance in the marketing/PR arena, to help broaden its reach even further. Their support of artist/activists is an incredible archive of community action and engagement that captures the richness of our national and international histories. | ||
Leadership Development |
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They could use board and leadership development. | ||
Funding |
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They could use more sustainable funding. | ||
Leadership
Maria Lopez De Leon
Executive Director
Executive Director
From the Nonprofit
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