Who we Are
Enlaces América: Building Capacity—Forging Connections

Enlaces América is an adviser, facilitator and support center for transnational Latino and Caribbean immigrant organizations committed to building healthy communities both in the United States and in their countries of origin. In fulfilling this role, we are gradually enabling immigrant community leaders to take on leading roles in domestic and international policy advocacy process in areas such as immigration and international economic development.

We believe that organized immigrant communities can and must play a role in designing the policies that will shape our country and our region. Even as they build their communities here in the United States, Latino immigrants have continued to care about and support their communities in their countries of origin. This emphasis on local community development—both in the US and in the country of origin—gives Latino immigrant leaders a uniquely transnational perspective on such policy issues as immigration, trade, and economic development. We see an emerging cadre of community-based leaders who are poised to take on a more visible leadership role at the national level. But they face a profound challenge. Under funded-overextended immigrant-led organizations have very little time to rationalize and assimilate the information being accumulated in day-to-day struggles. Our leadership capacity-building programs aim to enhance the ability of organized Latino immigrant communities to work collaboratively with civil society allies in the US and Latin America as transnational change agents. This effort loops back to the underlying rationale for all our work: to move towards dignified, equitable and sustainable ways of life for communities throughout the Américas.

Because we believe that the problems facing our hemisphere are complex and interrelated, Enlaces América is also committed to multi-sectoral alliances, and multi-disciplinary analysis. Too many efforts to build cross-sectoral alliances start from the utilitarian notion that different groups can be “brought on board” to a particular agenda. In contrast, we aim to meet organizations where they are and look for underlying common interests that can be nurtured and developed. We also offer a regional perspective to organizations whose primary focus is local or national. Finally, we promote cross-sectoral collaborations, particularly among organizations working on immigrants’ rights, international development policies, environmental issues, and rural and community development.