When the Chicago organization ALMA formed in 1989 amidst the HIV/AIDS epidemic, it was known as the Association for Latin Men for Action. The meaning of the acronym changed in subsequent years—with ALMA now standing for Association of Latinos/as/xs Motivating Action—and its mission has expanded, as it now advocates for the fair treatment and equality of the entire Latinx LGBTQ+ community.
However, ALMA is at a critical juncture, mostly because of a change in the funding landscape—and, to that end, the organization has launched the ALMA Legacy Fund in a bid to raise $50,000. ALMA Executive Director Manuel Hernández-Núñez (he/they) talked about the organization’s past, present and future as the nonprofit seeks to maintain its critical infrastructure.
Note: This conversation was edited for clarity and length.
Windy City Times: Could you give me a little background about yourself, including when you first heard of ALMA?
Manuel Hernández-Núñez: I’m originally from the South Bronx in New York City, which is where I lived all my life, and I came to Chicago in 2019. Between leaving New York City and coming to Chicago, I was in the Navy; then I went to school in Boston, where I got my undergrad and master’s at Northeastern University.
I have been working in the nonprofit space for a little more than 10 years now. I started as a consultant for many organizations, really helping them with kind of strategic alignment between funding and their mission, program delivery and board development. When I moved to Chicago, I worked at the University of Chicago at the Office of Business Diversity.
All my professional life, I’ve been in the field of equity and justice. And so I heard of ALMA through another organization that I was consulting for, the Medical Organization for Latino Advancement. And they asked me, “Have you ever heard about this organization? It’s doing some really great work.” Hector Torres, a friend of mine, sent me a message saying, “Hey, they haven’t announced it yet, but they’re going to be searching for an executive director and I think you should apply for it.” So I applied while I was still at the University of Chicago, even though I hadn’t even volunteered at ALMA—and it was a six-month process. But now I’ve been executive director for four years.
That’s really what drew me to [ALMA]—the opportunity to work with building infrastructure, which some people feel is too time-consuming. Some people just want to get into the role and have everything already set up. For example, the first thing was establishing a payroll system because they never had to implement one.
WCT: How would you summarize ALMA’s mission?
MH-N: When ALMA was founded in 1989, the founders really saw an opportunity to create culturally and linguistically competent support services for Latino men. At the time, the majority of those involved in the organization were monolingual Spanish speakers and were professional men, and a lot of them were not really out. So the organization provided support for those individuals, not wanting to replicate the services other community organizations were already providing. The founders realized that we can create spaces where these men can come and explore their identity and talk about what it is like being a queer Latino man.
The name ALMA started off as the Association of Latino Men for Action. In 2012, it changed to the Association of Latinos/as/xs Motivating Action. It changed its mission to be inclusive of everyone within the community. At that time, there was already a lack of spaces that were inclusive of all Latino queer individuals—and then three years later, Amigas Latinas closed its doors. So the organization felt the obligation to make sure that they were providing services to everyone within the community.
WCT: And you have said that ALMA is at a critical point. Why is that?
MH-N: Many things have come into play, but primarily we have seen a decline in philanthropic giving from both corporations and foundations when it comes to specific LGBTQ+ communities and organizations, especially those of us that are also focusing on gender and racial justice. There may be funding for LGBTQ+ or Latino organizations, but organizations that are at the intersection are oftentimes ignored.
So there’s been a decline in philanthropic giving—but an increase in the demand for services from communities we serve. The question is “How do we, as an organization, continue to provide these services while the investment into our communities is decreasing?” That’s where the organization finds itself right now.
WCT: Let’s say you raise the $50,000. What happens after that money runs out? Will there be another fundraiser page or are you hoping to get funds from somewhere else before that happens?
MH-N: So we’ve developed a smaller pipeline where small donors become kind of major donors for the organizations and we have implemented a program like that called our Padrine Initiative, with “padrine” being the Spanish gender-neutral form of “godparent.” In Latino culture you have godparents who are present for everything—like a child’s birth or your wedding. So we developed that program where individuals give a minimum of $1,000 annually to support the mission of the organization, and that has slowly been increasing.
And we have now also created stronger partnerships with other foundations; [previously,] the organization was dependent almost exclusively on one foundation. We have been working with other foundations that will provide us with additional support in the long term.
The problem with that is that we’re a small organization and we’re at the whim of funding grant cycles. We can get the grant and we can get the foundation to support us, but what happens for the six months [when there’s a lull]? The $50,000 will provide us with enough resources to make up for those gaps in time while we’re waiting for the delivery of grants or additional funds.
WCT: And, asking another question people may have, how long is the ALMA Legacy Fund going to run? Some fundraisers have a limited time.
MH-N: It’s gonna run until we hit our goal. If we can get the $50,000 before the end of this month, then we did it. But the campaign will remain open until we hit the mark.
WCT: How concerned are you about donor fatigue?
MH-N: That’s a real concern. Not only has ALMA been around for 36 years providing these services to our communities, but for 32 of those years, was completely volunteer-led and -supported. For those 32 years—with the exception of maybe one or two grants during that time—it was supported by individual donors to the organization. It wasn’t until 2021 that the organization received a substantial gift that then resulted in them bringing me on.
A lot of times, you don’t see the impact of your money or your dollars immediately—and that’s often why donors get fatigued. But, with ALMA, you are directly investing in leaders of our communities. I wish there was an organization like ALMA that I was involved with previously that provided me with guidance, mentorship and leadership training so that I wouldn’t have had to figure it out myself.
But remember: You’re investing. It’s an investment because you are going to see the direct return on that investment when you see individuals of our leadership development program [who succeed] as a result of it. The investment is something that really gets to the core of the organization and the work that we’re doing. It’s a true investment.
As an organization that’s focusing on marginalized communities, we have to be vocal. We have to be able to respond quickly.
People can donate to the ALMA Legacy Fund here.