NALAC Announces the Selected Fellows for the 2023 Advocacy Leadership Institute

The National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures announces the cohort of artists, arts administrators, and cultural workers participating in the 2023 Advocacy Leadership Institute (ALI). The selected fellows will complete a two-month virtual program culminating with a trip to Washington D.C. this spring to meet with legislators and national arts and nonprofit leaders.

"After much anticipation, we are excited to return to D.C. for the 2023 Advocacy Leadership Institute. Like many other fields, the arts and culture nonprofit sector experienced unprecedented challenges over the last two years. Now more than ever it is critical for artists and arts administrators to advocate for equitable resources and policies that support the arts and culture field," said Mari Hernandez, NALAC Manager of Leadership Institutes & Convenings.

Since the program's inception in 2009, NALAC and selected fellows have traveled together to Washington D.C. each year to advocate on behalf of artists and the nonprofit arts field. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 and 2021 gatherings transitioned to an online format, and the 2022 session was placed on pause. Three of the 2023 selected fellows are returning from the virtual Institutes to join this year's in-person cohort.

The cohort trip to Washington, D.C. this year will include sessions on Capitol Hill and with the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies, National Endowment for the Arts, and various Smithsonian Institutions. Core faculty leading the 2023 Institute program includes Maria López De León (NALAC President, CEO, and Board Member), Rosalba Rolón (Pregones/PRTT), and Abel López (GALA Hispanic Theatre Dance). Selected fellows will be guided through a curriculum centered on advocacy, representation, and policy change for artists and cultural workers.

"We are thrilled to return to Washington, DC with the recently selected Class of 2023. Our Advocacy Leadership curriculum provides thorough preparatory training on governmental structure, cultural policy, and advocacy strategies to address a broad range of issues impacting the Latinx arts and culture sector. This on-the-ground, unmatched experience has built a strong NALAC advocacy network since the inception of the ALI," said Rosalba Rolón, Core Faculty for the 2023 Institute.

The fifteen selected fellows represent communities in Arizona, California, New York, Texas, and Washington with disciplines in arts education, literature, dance, visual arts, and folk and traditional arts.

2023 NALAC Advocacy Leadership Fellows

Alicia Mulliken, EL SUEÑO Founder/Director (Seattle, WA)

Amalia L. Ortiz, SAY Sí / SAY Sí Union (San Antonio, TX)

Antonieta Landa, El Museo del Barrio (Brooklyn, NY)

Arturo Méndez, Arts.Co.Lab (San Francisco, CA)

Asami Robledo-Allen Yamamoto, Latinos in Heritage Conservation (Allen, TX)

Ivette Román-Roberto, Power 4 Puerto Rico Coalition, Collective of Puerto Ricans in Houston (Houston, TX)

Joshua J. Ramirez, J. Paul Getty Museum (Pico Rivera, CA)

Liyen Chong, Contemporary Arts Museum Houston (Houston, TX)

Lori Caval, NYC Department of Cultural Affairs (Sunnyside, NY)

Mauro Murillo, Artist (San Antonio, TX)

Michelle Murillo, California College of the Arts, San Francisco (Oakland, CA)

Philip Alejo, Fred Fox School of Music, University of Arizona (Tucson, AZ) 

Rebecca Beltran, Association of Independent Colleges of Art & Design - AICAD, (Chicago, IL)

Sam Gomez, The Sagrado (Phoenix, AZ)

Viannca Velez, Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute (Jersey City, New Jersey)

Read the biographies and learn more about the 2023 NALAC Leadership Fellows at www.nalac.org

The NALAC Advocacy Leadership Institute (ALI) is supported by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Ford Foundation, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, MacKenzie Scott, National Endowment for the Arts, and the San Antonio Area Foundation.

The National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures (NALAC) is the nation's premier nonprofit organization exclusively dedicated to the promotion, advancement, development, and cultivation of the Latino arts field. For more information about NALAC and its programs please visit www.nalac.org.