The National Council of La Raza: Unleashing the Power of an Affiliate Base Susan Colby and Tia Martinez The National Council of La Raza (NCLR), the largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States, has been a major force in expanding civil rights for the Latino population. The arrival of Janet Murguía as the organization’s new president and CEO in January 2005 served as the catalyst for an initiative aimed at clarifying NCLR’s strategy and enhancing the relationship between the national office and its affiliates. She and her management team joined forces with the Bridgespan Group to help pave the way for NCLR to maximize its impact on the lives of people in the Latino community. Over the course of a six-month engagement, NCLR translated its long-term vision of Hispanic American equality into nearer-term goals and clarified the give/get requirements for a relationship between affiliates and the national office that would allow them to do their work most effectively. www.nclr.org

To read the full article, please download the PDF version.