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Hispanic Executive’s mission is to unite the leaders of the new majority by turning a spotlight on our community’s most influential Latinos. We tell stories about Latinos and for Latinos.
Valley Initiative for Development and Advancement (VIDA)‘s Felida Villarreal returns for our American Dream series to speak with former presidential candidate Julián Castro, who was appointed CEO of the Latino Community Foundation at the start of 2024.
Castro last spoke with Hispanic Executive as part of our Conversations at the Top series during his bid for president in 2020. He previously served on the San Antonio City Council in 2001 and then was elected mayor in 2009, making him the youngest mayor of a Top 50 American city at the time. He served in the Obama administration as US Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.
In this exclusive interview with Villarreal, Castro speaks on driving Latino civic engagement in California, how elected officials can better serve Latino communities, and key strategies for supporting communities statewide.
Watch the Full Interview
To learn more about the Latino Community Foundation, go to latinocf.org.
Video Transcript
Felida Villarreal
Welcome, Julián. Thank you for joining me today to share a little bit about your career trajectory and your current priorities directly impacting Latinx communities. As someone who needs no introduction, I must say you are a trailblazer in the realm of public service, and you’ve achieved great success at a young age that most people strive for their entire lives.
So please tell me about your journey with the nonprofit and public service. What inspired you? What drove you to serve communities through your different elected positions, from being mayor of San Antonio to secretary of housing and urban development, not to mention while being the youngest member of former President Obama’s cabinet?
Julián Castro
Well, thank you so much, for the invitation to join you. Throughout my adult life, I felt very blessed to have the opportunities that I’ve had in my life, growing up in San Antonio, with my grandmother and my mom, my grandmother, who was immigrant, who worked as a maid, a cook, and a babysitter, and then my mother, who raised my brother and me as a single parent, and myself as the product of the public schools, I felt very blessed to have the opportunities in life that I’ve had, getting to go to college, getting to go to law school, becoming the first in my family
to be a professional.
And I saw public service initially as a way to ensure that other people could have the same kind of opportunity. I wanted to make sure that I spent part of my days and a lot of my effort lifting up others. And public service was a good way to do that.
I see my work at the Latino Community Foundation very much in the same vein. It’s not public service, but it’s a different way to make an impact in people’s lives so that they can achieve their own dreams the way that I feel I’ve been able to achieve mine.
Felida Villarreal
Absolutely. And like you mentioned, I think it’s a very rewarding field and role where you’re able to make an impact. And like you just mentioned, you’ve recently stepped into this new role of CEO for the Latino Community Foundation, which is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to build a movement of civically engaged philanthropic leaders investing in Latino-led organizations and increasing political participation of Latinos in California.
What expertise and what community engagement strategies are you bringing to this new leadership position, and are there any specific opportunities that you’re excited to dive into during your first year?
Julián Castro
Yeah. Well, I, I have seen a lot of how change happens in my own community of San Antonio and also in communities across the United States. And I understand well that it takes different moving parts to make change happen. And that nonprofits, and specifically, the philanthropic sector have a strong role to play in boosting economic opportunity for Latinos and Latinas and also civic engagement. So, I’m very optimistic that we can continue doing excellent work at LCF, as the nation’s largest community foundation that’s solely focused on civic engagement and economic opportunity for the Latino community.
And this year, I’m excited to deepen our work in the state of California. It’s a California foundation right now. And then also to begin expanding beyond California starting with our civic engagement work in places like Arizona and Nevada as well, two states whose demographics look similar to the state of California, where you have large Latino communities, very hardworking, very aspirational, and we believe that we can make the same kind of difference in those places that we’ve been making in California.
Felida Villarreal
Yeah. For sure. That’s exciting. And hopefully maybe also expanding into Texas.
Julián Castro
Yeah, in terms of Texas, in the years to come, we hope to, to continue to expand our reach. As you know, I mean, Latinas and Latinos are everywhere in the United States these days. And so there’s plenty of work to do. And, you know, I feel very lucky to get to be at the helm of the organization
as we grow.
Felida Villarreal
Absolutely. Well, we look forward to keeping up to date with those initiatives and those expansions at LCF. Given your extensive public service record and how you mentioned LCF’s mobilization of civic engagement in California, how do you see the Latino vote shaping the 2024 election in November, and what role do we have as nonprofits to impact Latino voter turnout?
Julián Castro
Latinos are going to play a crucial role in November in helping to strengthen our democracy and also in determining who controls Congress and who wins the presidency. Here in California, there are several congressional districts that are very close congressional districts. These are swing districts where Latinos make up from 15 percent to well over 30 percent of the population there. And that means that the community is going to play an outsized role in determining who actually wins.
In Arizona and Nevada, these are two of six battleground states for the presidency. That means that the Latino community is going to have a very strong voice in, in who prevails, who gains those electoral votes. And regardless if you’re Democrat or if you’re a Republican, we all have an interest
in people participating in our democracy, and we want the voice of the Latino community to be heard in November.
That’s what the Latino Community Foundation is committed to. And we do that specifically through investing dollars in organizations that are on the ground, that are grassroots organizations that are educating potential voters, that are reminding them to get out there and vote and helping to turn out voters. We do that in a 501(c)(3) way that’s nonpartisan, but is important, so that people can
exercise their right to vote.
Felida Villarreal
Yeah, absolutely. I think as a Latino community, we have great power and we have a sense of duty and responsibility to exercise that right and make an impact in, in our policy and, and moving forward as a community. What are, kind of touching more on that, what are some ways that elected officials can better serve our Latino communities?
Julián Castro
From having served in office myself, I know that one of the most important things that elected officials can do is to listen, to truly understand the needs of the people that they represent, to hold in their mind the perspectives of people who are often not people giving a lot to their campaigns. They’re not the folks with big money. They don’t have a big lobby behind them, but they’re hard working, they’re aspirational constituents.
Our Latino community is, is helping to propel the nation forward, and elected officials would do well to understand the community, to listen, and then to work with them as partners, to make things better on a whole host of issues. Educational opportunity, healthcare opportunity, housing opportunity, job opportunity.
Felida Villarreal
Absolutely. I think, I personally think that elected officials can be our biggest advocates to nonprofit organizations and that, you know, with us having that responsibility as well to keep them engaged and to educate them on our mission and our efforts. That way, we can amplify our voice and be able to reach new heights because, you know, as an individual nonprofit, our potential is so much.
But when you can work collectively and especially bring in elected officials, I think our efforts are just completely capitalized working together. So similarly to LCF, I have the privilege of leading a nonprofit organization serving Latino communities in South Texas known as VIDA. And our mission at VIDA is to empower our residents to achieve economic prosperity through market-driven training, resources, and career pathways. I’m curious to learn about workforce development opportunities you see for Latinos in California.
Julián Castro
Yeah, well, this is of course, a big issue for many, many Latinas and Latinos. And I see this as part of the spectrum of opportunity, of economic opportunity, that we want to help ensure exists there for the community. And the fact is that no matter where you are in our country, our economy is changing, the nature of jobs is changing, and also the skill level of our community, oftentimes, you know, it needs improvement. And so whether we’re talking about firm-specific human capital that’s created in conjunction with companies or general skills in education, it’s worth the private sector, the public sector, and the nonprofits sector making those investments so that we have a very skilled workforce so that people can have good employment, provide for themselves and their families, and, along the way, both as mayor and as HUD secretary, I’ve seen some great efforts all three of those sectors. Companies working with cities, working with nonprofits to ensure that you have high-quality workforce development in those local communities.
And, and California is no different. Candidly, I’m still familiarizing myself with a lot of what’s happening in California. I’ve been on the job about three months now, and so part of the joy of the last three months has been learning a lot. But, but the need for workforce development, strong workforce development, exists no matter where you are.
Felida Villarreal
Absolutely. And, you know, kind of a continuation of that. You know, we very much often hear
that human capital is a community’s most valuable yet often overlooked asset. But if communities prioritize workforce development of their own residents, either by expanding job training opportunities or providing wraparound support services to improve educational outcomes, then I believe we can collectively promote economic mobility for our most vulnerable demographics.
So from your seat at LCF, do you consider workforce development being an opportunity for nonprofits to invest in to support the Latino community? And what other big opportunities
do you see for potential investment?
Julián Castro
Yeah, workforce development is absolutely a place where nonprofits have a good role to play in filling in the gaps, in boosting the access that people have to the workforce development system,
because sometimes that system can seem inaccessible or kind of a maze to a lot of people. I also see great opportunity in fostering the entrepreneurial spirit that is strong in our Latino community.
We’re interested in ensuring that when a Latino or a Latina wants to start a business, that they’re able to do that, they’re able to, to overcome some of the basic barriers that can exist that, from access to capital to ensuring that you can get all of the legal and compliance elements in place to being able to compete for procurement of government contracts, if that’s what you want to do. And being able to grow your business from being a sole proprietorship to actually employing more than one person and then growing from there.
So all along the way, I’m interested in how we can create greater opportunity for entrepreneurship
in our community, because we know that we have a very entrepreneurial community as Latinas and Latinos, and LCF wants to be a part of sparking greater success there.
Felida Villarreal
Absolutely. You mentioned LCF is a California-based organization. When it comes to supporting communities statewide, in your opinion, what are some key strategies that nonprofits should employ?
Julián Castro
Number one it’s to identify those organizations that are close to the people that they’re serving. One of the things I love about LCF is that its partner organizations are very rooted in community. Secondly, being strategic about where investments are made within the state, because we really have some opportunity deserts.
And so we’ve, over the last several years, LCF has started to focus more and more in those places in California that have been underinvested in, like the Central Valley, for instance, and the Inland Empire. And each, every state, no matter which state in our country you’re talking about, has places like this; we want to bring those places into the light, into our focus, and invest in them.
And then third, it’s all about coalitions. We need to work in coalition to be able to unlock more federal, state, and local dollars for economic opportunity and then to connect that with everyday residents in communities.
LCF sees itself as one, one partner in that coalition.
Felida Villarreal
Of course. You mentioned right now under investment, and I can say that unfortunately, statistics don’t always play in our favor. You know, according to Hispanics in Philanthropy and other data sources, less than 2 percent of philanthropic dollars are invested in Latino-based organizations. Despite that, nearly 20 percent of our population is comprised of Latinx. And in addition to that, Latinx accounts for only 10 percent of nonprofit executive directors, less than 3 percent of foundation CEOs, and less than 5 percent of board members at nonprofits.
How can we, as nonprofit organizations, partner and work together to advance our shared goals despite these challenging statistics?
Julián Castro
We have to make the case. The fact is that nonprofits led by Latinas and Latinos are doing amazing work. And at LCF, we’re very proud that we invest, we identify and invest, in many of these organizations that are Latina- and Latino-led. At the same time, we have to hold to account
big philanthropy, which, as you said, has underinvested in organizations that serve Latinos. And that means, when we need to, calling them out on it. Doing it in a constructive way,
in a respectful way but not being afraid to call that out.
And then finally, I firmly believe that we also can’t wait for them. That’s why we’re very proud that the Latino Community Foundation operates the largest giving circle network that’s cultivating Latina and Latino philanthropists. We have seventeen giving circles throughout California. Many of them are geographically based in the southern part of the state, or northern part of the state, or by industry, for instance, we have a Latinos in Tech giving circle. And these are folks who are committed to pooling their resources and giving to many of these nonprofits on the ground that are doing great work.
And we know that this is building a new generation of philanthropists for the future. Maybe they’re not going to give $1 billion away, but they’re going to give a meaningful amount for themselves and for the community. We’re not just waiting for big philanthropy to act; we’re cultivating a network of our own philanthropists for the future.
It’s also important to point out that one of the knocks on the Latino community is that we don’t give, that we’re not philanthropists, and that couldn’t be further from the truth. The truth is that in our, in our own families, with our, in our churches, in our neighborhood groups, in so many ways, we do give. And at the Latino Community Foundation, we’re highlighting that. And then we’re drawing people in to build that network of philanthropy within the community.
Felida Villarreal
Absolutely. I think you’re, you’re absolutely right when you reference, you know, we have that culture in us that giving, that it’s not even necessarily all the time financial, but even, you know, with volunteering, with, you know, community engagement. And I think that’s something that is really at the heart of our culture and definitely something that we can all benefit from bringing more awareness to that.
Looking into the future, what are some emerging trends or challenges that you believe will be impacting nonprofit organizations working within the Latino community?
Julián Castro
No question that there is a lot of uncertainty about 2024, and there’s an election in November. And even though we’re, we’re not a partisan organization, we’re 501(c)(3), the fact is that for the Latino community, what happens in November is causing a lot of concern right now. And not just for our community but for the country.
Felida Villarreal
Right.
Julián Castro
And can impact the resources that are going to be available on economic opportunity, on educational opportunity, healthcare opportunity. So, that means that nonprofits should be planning for that. They should be prepared for whatever happens post November, and including, a deepening crisis among recent immigrants in the Latino community based on what happens, and we should be working together to ensure that, you know, we do what we can to support all, all parts of the community and ensure that every member of the community is able to reach their aspirations.
Felida Villarreal
For sure. Well, we’ve reached our final question, which is what advice do you have for Latinos
who are in public service roles or who want to mobilize more Latino voters to use their power?
Julián Castro
Go for it. Too oftentimes, we are hesitant or we think, well, maybe that’s some for somebody else but not for me, or we wait for the perfect time to jump into running for office. There’s never going to be a perfect time. And our democracy is relatively fragile right now.
So we need you. The Latino community needs you. And most importantly, the country needs you right now. They need hard working, intelligent, dedicated people with high integrity to run for office, to serve in public offices, and make sure that they create opportunity for all people in the years to come.
Felida Villarreal
Thank you, Julián. Well, before closing the interview, I would like to again express my sincere gratitude and appreciation for your time today. It’s been a sincere pleasure connecting with you to share your perspective, your insight on ongoing efforts to better serve Latinos. Thank you for all the wonderful work that you’re leading at LCF, and I’d like to give you a last opportunity to share any last-minute thoughts or how we can stay up to date with upcoming campaigns or initiatives at Latino Community Foundation.
Julián Castro
Yeah, we’re, we’re proud of, many of the initiatives that we’ve launched, including the Latino Power Fund. We believe in unleashing the civic and economic power of Latinos and Latinas. And Latino Community Foundation is doing some amazing work. I hope that folks will visit the website at LatinoCF.org.
Felida Villarreal
Thank you.
