La Oportunidad is a 501c3 nonprofit organization and a recognized leader for providing effective educational and supportive programs that enable Latino individuals and families to achieve positive educational and social outcomes. The organization's mission is to champion the development of Latino individuals and families to create a strong, peaceful community. La Oportunidad achieves its mission by providing bilingual and culturally-relevant, research-base and family-centered, programs for Latino children, youth, adults, and families, including the El Camino (The Path) Children's Program, the Latino Youth Program, the Padres (Parents) Program, and the Latinos Ending Abuse Program (LEAP). These programs focus on the development of skills and support systems that result in strong, healthy, economically stable families; and children and youth who are resilient, connected to their cultural strengths, achieve their potential, and prepared to succeed.

• The El Camino (The Path) Children's Program provides weekly bilingual school-based, after school programming and a summer camp to Latino children to assist them in developing their assets, and positive attitudes and behaviors in the areas of self, family, and community.  The purpose of the program is to develop healthier and stronger children who will be less vulnerable to negative influences and behaviors in their adolescence. In 2009, El Camino served 392 children.

• The Latino Youth Program provides weekly school-year groups, mentoring opportunities, and leadership programs to assist Latino adolescents to develop positive attitudes and behaviors in the areas of education, self, family, and community that will help them to become positive, contributing members of the community. In 2009, Latino Youth Programs served 721 youth.

• The Padres Parenting Programs provides weekly year-round educational and supportive groups to empower Latino parents with the tools necessary to support their children’s education, and raise healthy, well-adjusted children who will contribute to their communities. In 2009, Padres direct programming served 297 parents. 90% of the parents who participated in the Padres Parenting Program increased participation in their children’s education.

• The Latinos Ending Abuse Program (LEAP) provides year-round weekly educational and supportive groups classes to Latino men and women to give them the tools, education, and support necessary to help eliminate violent behaviors in their relationships, families, and communities. In 2009, LEAP served 173 Latino adults.

• Through Reflections of Peace Photography Project , the stories of La Oportunidad were made visual, putting a face on the peaceful change happening within our programs.

Board of Directors and Staff

Employment Opportunities - Current Openings!

A Message from the Executive Director

Newsletters and Annual Reports

Recent Accomplishments:

La Oportunidad continued implementation of its 2008-2010 strategic plan, exceeding its program goals and organizational capacity, despite of the state of the economy.As a result, the organization positively impacted the lives of thousands of individuals in its efforts to build a strong, peaceful community.

Comprehensive Direct Services: Over 1,585 Latino children, youth, and adults received direct services through weekly year-round and school-based educational, preventive, and support groups. La Oportunidad's program areas are: El Camino (The Path) Children's Program, Latino Youth Program, Padres/Parents Program, and Latinos Ending Abuse Program.

La Feria, 15 Annual Latino Families Resources Fair: Approximately 1,300 community members received information and resources from 100 bilingual educational, health, and social service providers, increasing awareness and access to services.

Education Connect Events: As part of its leadership role in the Latino Youth Development Collaborative (LYDC), La Oportunidad coordinated several Education Connect events where 718 Latino youth and their families received educational resources and connected with service providers. The LYDC's mission is to increase and enhance healthy youth development and educational success for Latino youth through access, participation, leadership, and family engagement.

Youth Violence Prevention Campaign: La Oportunidad, along with twelve other organizations, played a leadership role in the development of a multicultural community campaign to unlearn the culture of violence ("Peace 24/7, It Begins with You").  The campaign development was sponsored by the Minneapolis Foundation with the Minneapolis Health Department, and facilitated by the University of Minnesota Extension Center for Youth Development.

Strategic Plan 2008-2010: The organization continued with the successful implementation of its current strategic plan.  Part of the process included a mid-term evaluation of the plan with key stakeholders.

En Familia (In the Family) TV Program and other presentations/trainings: Over 20,000 individuals benefited from educational community outreach and training including several school districts and viewers of the En Familia weekly Spanish TV cable program, which La Oportunidad co-produces and hosts.

Volunteers and Interns: 100 interns and volunteers continued to play a key role in the organization's success.  Their time, energy, and talents made a great contribution to the increased capacity of the organization.