Latina Initiative Information

Our Mission The mission of the Latina Initiative (LI) is to cultivate, support and maintain the civic involvement of Latinas in Colorado. Our Work Today, LI is a nationally recognized nonpartisan leadership and education, voter registration, and mobilization project aimed at increasing the civic and political engagement of Latinas in Denver. We also offer in-depth trainings, citizenship classes twice a week and free citizenship application workshops 3 times a year. Our History In 2002, LI Board President, Katherine Archuleta, told then-Attorney General Ken Salazar she had participated in the last “honk and wave she was ever going to do." Expressing her frustration about the back seat Latinas had in campaigns, and recognizing the strength their sheer numbers along with cultural custom could bring to the electoral process, she persuaded Salazar a new social movement was emerging with the talent and commitment in the Latina community. Together they designed a culturally based, Latina-targeted civic engagement project and presented it to the one person they knew would support their ideals – former U.S. Ambassador Swanee Hunt. They were not disappointed: With a grant from the Hunt Alternatives Fund, LI started in 2002 as a grassroots movement to solidify the immense civic engagement potential within Colorado’s growing Latina population. “I’m Latina and I Vote” became the mantra of women throughout the community along with yard signs that proclaimed their civic pride.