Castro to head largest Latino-serving foundation
Former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julián Castro, a 2020 presidential candidate, will head the nation’s largest Latino-serving foundation starting in 2024, the foundation announced Wednesday.
Castro, who also served as mayor of San Antonio prior to joining the Obama administration, will become the new CEO for the San Francisco-based Latino Community Foundation, replacing outgoing head Jacqueline Martinez Garcel.
“Jacqueline has done a phenomenal job of growing the endowment over the years,” Castro said in an interview. He declined to offer specific goals for the organization before he starts Jan. 1. “I’d like to supercharge that effort,” Castro said.
America’s destiny and the destiny of Latinos are intertwined, Castro said, as Latinos represent 19% of the U.S. population and are the fastest-growing racial and ethnic voting group: “Only if Latinos do well can the country as a whole do well because more than 25% of the kids in this country are Latino.”
“We’re in the driver’s seat of America’s future, but to unlock the full potential of Latino communities and our nation as a whole, we must invest more in Latino and Latinoled organizations,” Castro said. “My vision is for LCF to fund a national movement of Latino power building that results in a more inclusive and equitable America.”
Castro, who failed to win the Democratic nomination for president in a hotly contested race in 2020, currently lives in Texas. He said Tuesday that he doesn’t plan to move to California but will travel often to the state. Castro’s name recognition could help to bring the foundation into the national spotlight as it endeavors to both “deepen the foundations’ footprint in California” and bring its “blueprint for social progress to Latinos across the country,” according to the foundation.
Castro told the Chronicle he envisions that would mean not only expanding to other states with large Latino populations like Texas, Arizona and Nevada, but to small rural communities in other states.
“The Latino community doesn’t just exist in states like California and Texas and Florida, it’s all over the place now,” Castro said. “The needs are tremendous.” But Castro said he doesn’t envision the foundation decreasing its work in California.
Founded in 1989, the LCF boasts the “largest network Latino philanthropists in the country.” It has invested over $29.6 million into more than 400 grassroots, predominantly Latino-led nonprofits across the state, and in all has raised $97 million to build “Latino civic and political power.” The LCF said in the most recent Get out the Vote and Census campaigns, the organization reached over 31 million Latinos, and it played a significant role in getting California’s Latino voter registration rate up to 73%, the highest in history.
Noting that Latino voters will be key in who wins several battleground House districts in California that will determine control of Congress next year, Castro said, “In a nonpartisan way, we’re going to be involved with making sure that Latinos are informed and that they’re mobilized to get out and vote and exercise that franchise. And eventually we’re going to make sure that that happens outside California as well.”
Castro did not shut the door on his political career, however.
“I’ve chosen not to get into politics right now. That doesn’t mean I never will in the future, but I’m currently focused on making this my contribution to making an impact on other people’s lives,” Castro said. “So I never say never. And I may well consider that down the road, but the only thing I’m focused on right now is doing an excellent job at the Latino Community Foundation and helping to lift up other people that way.”