About NALCAB
NALCAB - The National Association for Latino Community Asset Builders represents and serves a geographically and ethnically diverse group of non-profit community development and asset building organizations that are anchor institutions in our nation’s Latino communities. NALCAB members are experts in implementing responsible, market-based strategies for creating jobs, developing neighborhood assets and building family wealth. They include affordable housing developers, microlenders, economic development corporations and consumer counseling agencies.
NALCAB's Strategic Vision
NALCAB’s mission is to build financial and real estate assets as well as human and technology resources in Latino families, communities and organizations. NALCAB achieves this mission by supporting the work of its members. Specifically, NALCAB seeks to add value for its members by achieving the following core goals:
- Increase access to grants and investment capital;
- Open access to technical assistance resources and research that allows members to more effectively utilize their resources;
- Strengthen peer networks among Latino asset building practitioners and develop Latino leaders in the asset building fields;
- Challenge private foundations and Congress to invest more robustly and equitably in Latino communities through Latino-led asset building organizations;
- Develop a strategic national voice for Latino communities on community development and asset building policy.
Our Programs
NALCAB pursues these goals through the following programmatic strategies.
Strategy # 1: Providing Technical Assistance and Training - NALCAB opens access to grants and investment capital for its members and helps to build their organizational capacity through targeted technical assistance and training. NALCAB opens access to capital by assisting in the preparation of grant applications, coordinating collaborative applications among members, providing bi-monthly funding opportunity e-mail updates and by making connections to funders and investors both individually and through convenings.
Where resources are available, NALCAB seeks to pursue its technical assistance and training activity through a regional collaborative model. Collaboratives are guided by a practitioner-led Steering Committee and creates space for participants to examine common challenges and identify technical assistance needs while sharing best practices and innovations. Since 2007, NALCAB has coordinated a peer-based Border Community Development Collaborative (BCDC) among more than thirty low-income-serving organizations in South Texas, New Mexico and Arizona. In 2009, NALCAB built a similar regional collaborative effort among members in the Northwest and began laying the groundwork for a collaborative in the deep South.
Strategy # 2: Targeted Grant Making – NALCAB has built a track record of making modest, targeted grants to member organizations utilizing resources from a variety of federal and private philanthropic resources. NALCAB focuses its grant making on catalytic activities that will “jump start” community development projects. Examples include providing seed funding for a satellite financial counseling office in Illinois and covering the cost of environmental reviews to allow closing on construction loans for affordable housing projects in South Texas and California’s Central Valley.
Strategy # 3: Highlighting Innovation – NALCAB’s members include many of the most innovative and accomplished community development/ asset building organizations in the country. Unfortunately, many do not adequately market their accomplishments both for the purposes of attracting investment and to serve as models for the field. Through best practice publications, regular newsletter spotlight stories, and at our national conference NALCAB highlights the innovation of Latino asset builders.
Strategy # 4: Developing Next Generation Latino Leadership – NALCAB is addressing the need for next-generation leadership and leadership transition among its member organizations by: (a) developing a formal national network of next generation Latino leaders in community development/ asset building; (b) providing training to these next generation leaders; (c) helping to match capable Latino asset builders currently in the workforce with positions available with member organizations; and (d) creating internship opportunities for college students and fellowship opportunities for post-graduates who are interested in becoming asset building practitioners.
Strategy # 5: National Conference and Regional Convenings - NALCAB's National Conference is where all of NALCAB's efforts and programs intersect and NALCAB members have the unique opportunity to connect with their peers from around the nation. NALCAB’s National Conference is designed to address the needs and interests of Latino leaders and aspiring leaders in the community development and asset building fields. NALCAB also hosts regional events in conjunction with is regional collaboratives.
Strategy # 6: National Advocacy – In the face of a severe economic crisis, NALCAB has organized not only its members, but the community development field more broadly, to urge Congress to balance its economic recovery policy with direct investments in our nation’s hard-working middle- and lower-income communities. Another significant aspect of NALCAB’s national advocacy efforts includes encouraging private philanthropy to invest more robustly and equitably in Latino-led asset building organizations.