NCLL - About

About the National Community for Latino Leadership, Inc.

Mission
To develop leaders who are 1) committed to ethical, responsible, and accountable actions on behalf of the U.S. Latino population and the broader community; and 2) dedicated to promoting the social, cultural, and economic advancement of the Latino community.

Guiding Principles: "Listening, Learning, Leading"

NCLL produces innovative, baseline research on Latino leadership utilizing surveys, focus groups, and individual interviews (Listening).

NCLL promotes the effective practices of Latino leaders through networking and collaboration (Learning).

NCLL provides support for Latino leaders through leadership training, technical assistance and resources (Leading).

Summary
Since 1989, the National Community for Latino Leadership, Inc. (NCLL), formerly known as the Hispanic Leadership Opportunity Program (HLOP), has existed as a network of national leadership organizations. This network supported leadership development activities for Latino youth, professionals, and community leaders that remain engaged today in efforts to advance the Latino community. NCLL's initial efforts were supported by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and the Ford Foundation.

In 1999, NCLL's Board of Directors transitioned NCLL from Phoenix, Arizona to Washington, D.C. as part of a strategic plan to develop a national forum on leadership within the Latino community. NCLL recruited leadership consultant Alfred Ramirez as its President to position NCLL as a leadership think tank, collaborative network, and resource clearinghouse for Latino leadership. Recognizing the scarcity of existing Latino leadership research, NCLL embarked upon several groundbreaking research projects on leadership in the Latino community.

To date, NCLL has completed 54 focus groups with over 500 local leaders in 6 major cities across the U.S; conducted a comprehensive leadership survey with over 3,000 Latinos nationwide; and interviewed nationally recognized leaders across the arts, civic, intellectual/academic, business and religious sectors of the Latino community. NCLL has also launched a premier online clearinghouse, www.latinoleadership.org, which promotes current leadership research, news, events, opportunities, organizations, and tools for emerging and established Latino/a leaders.

NCLL's Latino leadership reports are making significant contributions within the field of leadership studies. NCLL and others are utilizing these landmark findings to propose curriculum, training modules, and emphases for leadership development programs. NCLL is building a dynamic leadership network of community leaders, researchers, and others engaged in the development of effective and responsive Latino/a leaders.

Our Logo

The logo was created to graphically symbolize and suggest aspects of the art of Latino culture without specific references to the iconography of one nationality (Mexican, Peruvian, etc)

The symbol also works on a descriptive basis – that is, to representationally describe the purposes and goals of the organization. The central symbol is a version of an ancient image that can be found in European as well as African and North/South American locations – the spiral. Its meaning has been interpreted different ways, but most consistently as a symbol of creation – a world symbol.

This main image is combined with four directional arrows, at the North, South, East and West respectively. This combination indicates the wide reach of Latino culture (from the four directions of the compass) around the world and the creation of community in many locations. The combination of the spiral and the directionals creates a sun-like icon and can be interpreted as a type of "guiding light" that describes and represents in a simple, yet strong image, the goals of the organization – leadership and community.