As 2024 draws to a close, I want to take this opportunity to personally thank you for another outstanding year at Voces Unidas. With your support, our organization continues to make significant strides in our transformational work in the central mountains toward a more equitable Colorado for all.
We’re proud to see Colorado’s Latino community continue to speak out and lead on the issues that matter most to us. Thanks to you and all of our partners, we made our mark on 2024 through every pillar of our work. And with your continued support, we can make an even greater impact in the year to come.
Over the past year, Voces Unidas de las Montañas, our 501(c)(3) organization, engaged more than 7,000 people in our advocacy work, including bringing more than 400 people to the Capitol in Denver for Latino Advocacy Day. We flew in 18 rural leaders to Washington, D.C., for multiple days of action and meetings with our members of Congress to advance our causes at the national level. We successfully produced our fourth annual policy agenda report, representing the policy preferences of 1,600 Colorado Latino voters, as well as our second exit poll of 600 Latino voters used to provide insights into the views of a critical demographic in the 2024 General Election. We graduated 11 more Colorado immigrant leaders from our international leadership program in Mexico City, including multiple DACA leaders who had not left the U.S. since childhood. We organized and mobilized more than 2,500 parents in several rural school districts to demand quality education for all students. We engaged more than 20,000 Latino voters in 15 counties in our nonpartisan education campaign. And we spearheaded relief efforts for some 250 Venezuelan newcomers we discovered living under a bridge in Carbondale last winter.
Voces Unidas Action Fund, our 501(c)(4) organization, supported or opposed more than 39 pieces of legislation in 2024 and took the lead to pass a law guaranteeing the right of students to celebrate their culture at graduation ceremonies, among others. We expanded our reach by engaging in electoral work for candidates and ballot measures in 17 Western Slope counties, contacting an unprecedented 242,443 voters. Our significant investments in base-building, candidate training, and direct engagement with Latinos and progressive voters paid off by electing nine champions dedicated to our issues – including the first Latina ever elected to the Board of County Commissioners in Routt County.
While we take pride in all these accomplishments, we remain acutely aware that the year ahead will require even more from us as we strive to protect community members and continue the fight for justice. We’re already working to strengthen state laws to protect immigrants from a hostile federal government, developing local leaders to give voice to Latinos in rural Colorado, and putting the pieces in place for direct advocacy to ensure Latinas and Latinos are thriving, engaged, and leading in all our communities.
As we reflect on the past and prepare for the future, we recognize that we could never have come this far without the enduring support and commitment of this community. You are the most important part of what we do, and we thank you once again for standing alongside Voces Unidas as we strive towards a more inclusive and compassionate community for all.
Happy holidays to you and yours.
With gratitude,
Alex Sánchez
President and CEO