Founded in 2002, the Illinois Legislative Latino Caucus Foundation mission has remained consistent over the years, which is to foster the next generation of Latino leadership while advocating for the needs and wants of the community.

When founded, ILLCF had a slim and mighty board, whose vision was to build sustainable organization that not only worked with Latino leaders from all walks of life, but also served as the public policy arm for the Illinois Latino community. Since our founding, the ILLCF’s Next Generation Leadership program – one of our signature programs – has awarded over $1,000,000 in scholarships!

As the public policy arm, ILLCF has convened over 12 public policy conferences over the years, bringing community together to discuss issues affecting the Latino community, while celebrating the strides we have been making, leading the growth of the state ever since.

Twenty years later, the board made a strategic decision to evolve ILLCF from a board-led organization, to a staff-led one that could execute across all programs. 2022 was a pivotal year, as not only did ILLCF welcome its inaugural Executive Director, but expanded across all program areas, including doubling its scholarship amount and expanding it to all Latino students, partnering with academic institutions to deliver a robust and data driven public policy platform, and building intentional partnerships across sectors and institutions to better bridge the needs of the Latino community.

Today, we are 22 years strong! Our board has grown: It is majority Latina, nearly half of the members represent the Chicagoland suburbs, and the board is one of the youngest in the Illinois General Assembly – a true reflection of our community. We thank everyone who has helped ILLCF get here. Because from our roots, flowers bloom.