Latino Network Leadership Transition
When SVP Portland first invested in Latino Network in 2013, the organization had 13 full-time staff and a $1.5M budget. LatNet’s culturally-specific approach to early childhood programming and parent education made for an incredible partnership opportunity to advance the goal of ensuring children’s access to high-quality, culturally-relevant early learning experiences. Their education program, Juntos Aprendemos, has since scaled from programming in three schools in the Portland Metro area to now serving 17 schools statewide, and growth continues. Today, Latino Network is a 130-person team with a $12M budget.
Last month, after more than a decade as Executive Director, Carmen Rubio departed Latino Network to become Portland’s first Latinx city commissioner. Throughout our partnership, it has been an honor to work closely with Carmen. Lauren Johnson, SVP Portland Executive Director, reflects, “Carmen is a highly-effective, courageous leader who’s been incredibly dedicated to advancing LatNet’s mission. She was eager to work hand-in-hand with SVP Partners to further strengthen the organization’s operating capacity and potential to scale to achieve even greater impact in our community. She was also thoughtful and candid in her feedback to SVP, which has helped us become more effective as a capacity building partner to nonprofits.”
After an extensive national and statewide search process, the Latino Network Board of Directors announced as successor Tony DeFalco.
“A community leader at heart, DeFalco has held strategic leadership roles for more than a decade, most recently as the Executive Director of Verde and as current board chair of the Coalition of Communities of Color. He brings decades of experience in nonprofit management, fundraising, advocacy and coalition building across diverse sectors in the region and state, coupled with a deep understanding of the issues facing Latinx and communities of color.”
Lead Partner Holly Levow looks ahead to working with Tony, "He is an extremely well-respected leader in the Latinx community and is very experienced with non-profit leadership. I have heard wonderful things about him from everyone I speak with. The combination of Carmen in her new role as Portland City Commissioner and Tony at the helm of Latino Network brings me hope for great impact and positive change."