The Latino Policy Forum is pleased to announce the selection of 24 community leaders serving Latino and African American communities to participate in the Forum’s inaugural Multicultural Leadership Academy, set to begin next month. The Academy will work with these leaders to build a bridge of cultural understanding and community while increasing awareness of how racial and ethnic groups can collaborate to transform their diverse communities through social action.

Building on a six-year tradition of the Illinois Latino Nonprofit Leadership Academy in developing and training change agents committed to strengthening communities, the Forum has trained more than 150 leaders and emerging stars from more than 55 organizations across the state. Given Chicago’s historic segregation, alliance building across communities requires a deliberate and intentional approach, which the redesigned Academy will do. “I am inspired to be working with the next generation of leaders of color,” said Sylvia Puente, the Latino Policy Forum’s Executive Director. “More importantly, in these challenging times it is an honor to collaborate with this alliance of leaders to identify opportunities for bridging Latino and African American communities.”