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Applications for the 2025 Esperanza United Research and Policy Fellowship are now open!  Empowering Latina leaders in research and policy advocacy Esperanza United is excited to announce that applications for the 2025 Esperanza United Research and Policy Fellowship have opened! This transformative program is designed to provide training, professional development, and […]

Latin@ students and survivors of gender-based violence (GBV) bring resilience, unique perspectives, and diverse experiences that greatly enrich higher education. This guide is designed to honor and support those strengths by providing reliable, current information to assist with the decision-making process about higher education.

Esperanza United fosters the strengths of Latin@ communities to prevent and end gender-based violence (GBV). An integral step toward this goal is our Research and Policy Latina Leadership Fellowship, now in its third year. This fellowship supports Latinas in research and policy advocacy by providing training and mentorship.  Each year, we […]

Why should the United States put more effort into protecting undocumented Latina immigrants who are survivors of human trafficking? Under international law, human trafficking is defined as “the recruitment, transport, transfer, harboring, or receipt of a person by such means as threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, […]

After more than twenty years at the helm of Esperanza United, Patti Tototzintle is retiring. To preserve her wisdom and lessons learned, we organized a series of conversations between her and the friends, leaders, and colleagues she worked with along the way. In our final edition, we welcome Sandy Vargas, CEO, […]

In this episode of Conversations over Cafecito, we celebrate Human Rights Month with an exclusive interview featuring Yanira Reyes Gil, a prominent Puerto Rican jurist, academic, and feminist. With an admirable career advocating for human rights, particularly women’s sexual and reproductive rights, Yanira shares her experience as a lawyer and professor […]

The troubled teen industry includes various group homes, often called congregate care facilities, that claim to help youth with behavioral, emotional, or mental health challenges. This industry encompasses wilderness therapy programs, boot camps, therapeutic boarding schools, religious-based programs, drug rehabilitation centers, and residential treatment centers. Each year, about 120,000-200,000 youth enter […]

By Maria Martinez  Introduction  Reyna Martinez, my mother, is a remarkable woman whose journey from Guatemala to the United States and back again reflects a deep well of resilience and strength. Born as the third daughter in a family of village workers, Reyna grew up in a remote village where she […]

By Vanessa Leon-Gamez   Health literacy is a critical pillar of healthcare, yet it remains overlooked within marginalized communities. Health literacy is the ability to find and understand health information, communicate needs and concerns to health professionals, and make well-informed decisions for one’s health. Understanding health-related information empowers our communities to […]