Welcome to the Oregon Latino Agenda for Action (OLAA) Biennial Summit 2016. With the help of various organizations and community leaders, OLAA held our first ever summit in Salem, Oregon, in 2010. OLAA’s first statewide summit was designed to provide an opportunity to gather as a community, under the banner of “One United Voice - Una Voz Unida.” The end result was a gathering of our diverse Latino community in Oregon which started a dialogue intended to articulate the ways in which we could gather with the intent of improving the lives of all Latinos in Oregon. This initial Summit in 2010 was the beginning of a movement that has only grown stronger in time. Now on our fourth summit, OLAA is honored to be able to continue to coordinate this ongoing conversation in support of our growing and increasingly diverse Latino communities in Oregon.

This year’s theme - Stronger Together | Fuerza Unida - builds upon our collective histories and takes into account our dynamic and growing community in Oregon. The data are clear and speaks to the importance of the Latino community in every segment of Oregon industry. As the State of Oregon looks to its future it must do so with the acknowledgement of a growing, empowered, and youthful Latino demographic. We are reminded that the “browning” of the United States is no longer relegated to the Northeast and Southwest but exists in the Pacific Northwest today. The implications for the State of Oregon are vast and our gathering today provides ongoing testimony to “our” collective role in Oregon’s future.

OLAA is thrilled to continue the tradition of presenting this comprehensive Executive Summary that highlights the current state of Latinos in Oregon. Within the sum of three years of data collection, OLAA is honored to have Dr. Ron Mize present a robust report on the status of Latinos in Oregon which accompanies this Executive Summary. These data are significant, timely, and provides us all with insights regarding the Latino presence and impact in the State of Oregon. Dr. Mize’s scholarship is well known throughout the United States. This information - regardless of your profession - will prove to be invaluable as it speaks to the “here and now” with vast implications on our collective “tomorrow.” We are in fact, “Stronger Together | Fuerza Unida!”

Welcome to the 2016 Oregon Latino Agenda for Action Summit. We are truly honored to be in the presence of one another.