Seeking Umbrella Name for Programs

Escuela Bolivia was originally founded by Bolivian parents, with the help of the Bolivian ambassador. Over the last decade, the organization has expanded to serve students from many different countries of origin and additional programs have been developed to serve the growing Latino community. This includes the Parent Leadership Initiative, the Emerging Leaders Program, ESL/Civics classes, and the summer Spanish Academy. We seek an umbrella name to better link our various programs and facilitate future growth for the organization. The name of "Escuela Bolivia" which honors our legacy and founders, will, of course, remain for the Saturday morning program.

Finding an umbrella name to link our programs will:

• Better reflect our mission, which is to empower Latino children, youth, and families through education and leadership development to succeed and contribute to our community, while teaching others about the Latin American culture.

• Recognize and reflect Board and staff diversity. We are proud that 40% of our staff and Board are of Bolivian heritage, and that 80% are Latino. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII), prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin. We value and seek diversity among our Board and staff and welcome qualified individuals who believe in our mission of empowering Latinos through education.

• Increase the range of foundations, corporate partnerships, and donors from which to seek resources. Rebranding is a common occurrence among nonprofits who seek to strengthen and grow their programs in order to fulfill their missions. Limiting our focus, or giving that impression, affects our capacity to attract funds and to grow. Like other organizations in the nonprofit and philanthropic sector, our organization has been impacted with the recent economic downturn. Funders are increasingly becoming more strategic with their investments and seek to invest where they will have the greatest impact. They seek to serve as broad a population as possible, and our umbrella name needs to reflect the diverse population we serve.

• Facilitate recruitment of students, volunteers, and partnerships. While Escuela Bolivia does not discriminate among nationalities, we still find some reluctance among students, volunteers, and potential partners to participate with us because of first impressions and biases. Approximately 70% of our students are of Latino decent. We are very proud to serve Latinos of various nationalities, and even non-Latinos who wish to learn about the Latin American culture. A name change of the umbrella organization will help clarify that our mission is to empower the entire Latino population—the fastest growing minority group in the United States.

This is an exciting time for our organization, and we are proud to have served thousands of families through our programs since our founding. An umbrella name to link our programs, together with our strong track record and recent hire of a dynamic and experienced Executive Director, will give us the opportunity to expand our services and benefit even more Latino students and families.

The selection of the umbrella name will take place in future months. We are seeking the creativity of everyone in our community and are asking for suggestions to find an umbrella name that will accurately reflect who we are, what we do, and where we are going. More information will be posted soon on how you can contribute to this process!