Latinos for Leadership Excellence and Diversity (Latinos LEAD)

Latinos LEAD has received from the Ford Foundation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Weingart Foundation, and multiple California community foundations. Said funding has gone towards the group’s leadership training programs and organizational capacity-building efforts.  ^{2 3}

Leadership

As of 2025, Latinos LEAD was led by founder and executive director Patrick Salazar, who earned $99,013 in compensation according to 2023 tax filings. Salazar has a background in nonprofit management, consulting, and executive search, including work with Oppenheim Associates and earlier roles with several Latino-interest organizations such as UnidosUS (formerly National Council of La Raza), the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, and the National Hispana Leadership Institute.  ^{4 5}

As of 2025, the board was chaired by Juan Ramos, a Los Angeles-based attorney specializing in transactions law. Ramos has held positions with the Mexican-American Bar Association and previously was a trustee of the Los Angeles County Bar Association. He has also filed amicus briefs in support of DREAMer bar applicants and holds degrees from Harvard, the University of Michigan, and Stanford Law School. ⁶

Other board members in 2025 included Mitch Menchaca, vice chair and executive director of the City of Phoenix Office of Arts and Culture; Marlen Gomez, a CPA and principal at CliftonLarsonAllen LLP; Luis Cruz, a former Goldman Sachs employee who later worked in private equity and tech-sector sales; Kristan Venegas, chief learning and evaluation officer at the Mexican American Opportunity Foundation; and Geoff Green, CEO of the California Association of Nonprofits. ⁷

Activities

Latinos LEAD focuses on increasing Latino representation on nonprofit governing boards, positioning board diversity as a core structural issue within the nonprofit sector. The organization’s work centers around its “Theory of Change,” which identifies gaps in Latino board participation and argues that nonprofits must adopt more deliberate diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) focused governance practices. To address this, Latinos LEAD operates three primary programs. “Ready to LEAD” provides governance training intended to prepare Latino professionals for board service, including instruction on board responsibilities, fundraising expectations, and organizational oversight. “Pathways to LEAD” serves as a recruitment and placement program that matches nonprofits with Latino board candidates, functioning as a diversity-oriented talent pipeline for organizations seeking to diversify their governance structures. The “Inclusion Readiness Intake” offers consulting support to nonprofits, assessing their internal policies and board culture to determine whether the organization is prepared to recruit and retain Latino board members. Across these programs, the group positions itself as both a training provider and a DEI-centered advisory service to nonprofits seeking to meet diversity goals. ¹

Funders

Latinos LEAD partners with and receives support from several major philanthropic institutions. Listed partners include the Ford Foundation, William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, Weingart Foundation, California Community Foundation, Orange County Community Foundation, Ralph M. Parsons Foundation, Amgen Foundation, Fidelity Charitable Fund, and DigitalOcean. ²

According to the organization’s own materials, Hewlett, Ford, and Weingart provided the group’s major pilot-program and capacity-building funding, while Amgen supported a training webinar series. ³

Financials

Latinos LEAD operates with modest financial resources and relies heavily on institutional grant funding from large philanthropic foundations. In 2022, the organization reported $81,059 in revenue, $237,309 in expenses, and $40,330 in assets, indicating a pattern of spending significantly above its annual income. ⁸ From 2018 to 2023, the organization has reported $619,821 in total public support, including $37,309 in 2022 alone.  ⁹

Much of its funding comes from major left-of-center institutional donors. The Ford Foundation awarded Latinos LEAD $205,000 in 2024 and previously gave $50,000 in 2021 and another $50,000 in 2019. ^{10  11  12} The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation has been a consistent funder, awarding $100,000 in 2023, $100,000 and $30,000 in 2022, and $100,000 in 2021. ^{13  14  15}

Additional support has come from the California Community Foundation ($20,000 in 2022) and the Ralph M. Parsons Foundation ($10,000 in 2021). ^{16  17} These grants have been identified by the organization as major contributors to its pilot programs and capacity-building initiatives. ³