More Latino Voices to the Legislative Table

Written by Christina E. Rodriguez | 28 October 2009

Sylvia Puente was more than ready when she was appointed executive director of the Latino Policy Forum at the end of last year. After serving three years in its Board of Directors, she had a clear vision of where she wanted to take the organization once known as Latinos United. 

Puente’s main goal is to “bring together leaders to collaborate on key issues and to do the advocacy we need to do in Springfield...We have a big mission [and a] small staff but are committed to bringing more Latino voices to the policy making tables,” said Puente of the Latino Policy Forum.

The Latino Policy Forum’s mission statement, as published on their website, is “to build the power, influence and leadership of the Latino community through collective action to transform public policies that ensure the well being of our community and society as a whole.” The forum has focused mostly on early childhood education, housing and immigration issues, although, primarily their successes lie in education. Certain programs and monies that were supposed to be cut in the latter were restored thanks to the efforts of the Latino Policy Forum.

According to Puente, these efforts are increasingly important since there are so many future Latinos on the way. One of three newborns in the region is a Latino child, said Puente, which is a reason why the organization focuses so much on early childhood education.

As a native Chicagoan, Puente grew up near Taylor Street and eventually moved to the suburb of Maywood with her parents who were community activists. Growing up in the suburbs wasn’t like growing up in the city. “I had to struggle to find who I was as a Chicana, a Latina,” she says.

An educated professional with degrees in economics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and in public policy from the University of Chicago, Puente also founded the Latino Leadership Council of the Chicago Foundation for Women. She has also been a keynote speaker at community events, most recently at the rededication of La Casa Cultural Latina at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

In the long term, Puente wants to provide an understanding of Latinos to the greater society as well as leverage Latino voices to the public policy process which is vital to this community’s future.