When ALMA executive director Manuel Hernandez threw his hat in the ring to become the first employee in the organization’s 30+ year history, he had no expectation to be the person they chose for the job. Hernandez has now been in the post for nearly three years, and preparing to lead ALMA through a critical point in history.
Founded in 1989 at the height of the AIDS crisis, ALMA is one of the leading LGBTQ+ groups in Chicago focused on the queer Latine community. Through advocacy, resource referrals and local events, the group works to uplift the intersectional community in Chicago and beyond.
ALMA and Hernandez now must work through a second Trump administration while immigrant and LGBTQ+ rights are under relentless criticism and legal attacks. The last three years have given rise to new programs and resources within the organization, which Hernandez said will help them “solidify their space” ahead of potential difficulties.
Windy City Times: Now, you’ve been in the role officially for about two and a half years. Looking back at 2024, how was that for ALMA? What were your big accomplishments?
Manuel Hernandez: Now, two-plus years in, we’re a team of four. Still a small team, but going from an organization with no employees to quadrupling it in two years was a huge accomplishment. Since then, the organization, our programming and our structure has expanded almost exponentially at this point.
Over the last year, we established our Latine and LGBTQ+ Advocacy Leadership Institute. Most leadership development programs are not necessarily created by our communities for our communities. We have 10 individuals in one of the very few free leadership development programs, and it runs for six months.
Our structure is very shared leadership—it is about building power within our community. We think direct service and immediate action are almost always needed, but in order to enact real change, we have to think about policy for that long term and sustainable change.
We’ve also been able to reestablish our scholarship program, which we’ve renamed to the Roman Legacy Award. It’s two scholarship recipients ages 17 to 24 who are emerging leaders who really want to learn more and make a meaningful impact on the advocacy space.
It covers all expenses for them to attend the Creating Change Conference put on by the National LGBTQ+ Task Force allowing them to see, on a national level, what’s happening across the country when it comes to queer advocacy and the intersections with other issues. It also covers participation in our leadership development program and targeted mentorship.
We’ve also launched our LGBT Youth and Families Referrals programs, which protects and connects LGBT youth and their families to critical services within the Chicagoland area, specifically in housing, legal services, and healthcare access.
WCT: Going off some of the major projects you’ve accomplished, what are some of the big things that you’re hoping to or planning to accomplish in 2025?
MH: We know with the change in the presidential administration, there is going to be an uphill battle—especially when it comes to queer issues, issues relating to DEI, issues faced by immigrant communities. We’ve already seen an influx of families into the state and into the city of Chicago, fleeing surrounding states. We expanded our LGBT youth and families referrals partnerships, and we’re building on that to prepare for the influx.
We’re also preparing for and hopefully expanding our ALMA Creates Program which also launched last year. It’s an art fellowship for 17-to-24-year-olds who are interested in using their art form as a tool for advocacy. We just had our cohort for this year ,which was six queer Latine artists, everything from filmmakers to spoken word artists to visual artists to sculptors.
WCT: What has been the preparation or discussion within ALMA, if there’s anything you all have talked about or you personally know, about what your role is going to be during the upcoming presidential administration?
MH: There have been a lot of preparations over the past few months. A lot of it is finding and solidifying our space in what we know is coming. We have already heard from the incoming administration that Illinois as a state will be a target, that they will make an example out of the state of Illinois.
Preparation for that is working within our networks of organizations and direct service providers, mobilizing our volunteer base, preparing several town halls throughout the year to inform the community of what’s happening. It’s something that we already do by hosting a town hall each year, but we’re going to expand on that and host them more regularly.
We also now sit on several advisory boards and committees for state and city agencies to ensure that our voices are being heard. We sit on the LGBT Advisory Board for the Secretary of State. We sit on the Steering Committee for Homelessness for the city with a focus specifically on Latine and queer homelessness. We’re also informing our volunteers and communities as to how they can get involved, there’s going to be days that we have to mobilize.
There’s also contingency planning, developing what I like to call a “disaster plan” of what we do as an organization if we’re under attack. We need to…protect our employees—potentially closing down our office and working fully remote. It also includes mental health days.
WCT: I feel like this is something so many people in the country are dealing with right now. But it’s something that, at least, so many of us are in it together.
MH: As unfortunate as it sounds, it’s not the first time. That’s what motivates me, really, just thinking about the urgency of the work that lies ahead. But also feeling comfort in knowing the history of not only our communities, but the organization. The fact that ALMA went more than three decades off the blood, sweat and tears of volunteers, [and] was founded in 1989 just eight years after the first AIDS case in the U.S. Our communities have known what it is to have to fight every single day.
Yes, the next four years ahead of us are looking like yet another four years of extreme fighting. But I hold true and comfort to knowing that we have overcome this before. And this time we will, again. We can learn from what happened in the past and create an ecosystem that makes sure we are providing the best resources and support to our communities, and still keep moving forward and not let all of this—no matter how scary it is—stop us in our progress.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.