Securing the Dream

The Statewide Latino Public Policy Conference, "Securing the Dream: Power, Progress, Prosperity," climaxes the twentieth-anniversary celebration of the Mauricio Gastón Institute for Latino Community Development and Public Policy. During the anniversary year, Institute staff engaged many local leaders, policy makers, and practitioners in regional meetings across Massachusetts on the status of Latinos - the Institute's 2009 Statewide Listening Tour. It is from these conversations - in Springfield, Holyoke, Worcester, Southbridge, Lawrence, Boston, and Dartmouth - that the themes of this conference have emerged. Securing the Dream: Power, Progress, and Prosperity echoes the collective aspirations of Latinos who participated in these intense discussions. 

With these themes in mind, the 2010 conference will bring together participants from all regions of the Commonwealth to address public policies and organizational practices affecting Latinos at the local and state levels. Speakers will include a combination of researchers, policy makers, practitioners, and community leaders who will share their expertise with the audience and will exchange the most up-to-date information on Latinos in Massachusetts. Our goal in this statewide forum is to help obtaining new knowledge, define new policies and practices, and strategize to use the power found in the numbers to advance the Latino dream of progress and prosperity.