The Center for Latino Policy Research (CLPR) was founded in 1989 in response to the challenges of limited educational, political, and economic opportunities facing the Latino/Chicano population. The Center’s mission is to produce research and policy that can leverage the complexity of the Latino experience in the United States and to shed light on the myriad factors that affect the distribution of material, social, and political opportunities. Not only are Latinos the nation’s largest minority group, but any study involving Latino experience requires an intersectional approach which takes into consideration issues of race/phenotype, gender, class, age, sexuality, national origin, and language use. We accomplish our mission through our commitment to community-engaged research projects that work to inform local, state, national, and international policies that affect Latinos.
Our vision for the Center includes fostering community participation in the research process, redefining how the university relates to the community, and also ensuring that our research products are relevant to and reach those most directly affected. We engage in collaborative work with a broad set of institutions (non-profit, governmental, and private). The result is a body of work and a set of policy recommendations rooted in rigorous academic research that are responsive to pressing and long-standing issues affecting Latinos within and outside the U.S.
History
The roots of the Center go back to the spring of 1986 through the creation of the working committee that developed the concept for the Chicano/Latino Policy Project, later renamed the Center for Latino Policy Research. With sponsorship from the Berkeley Program in Mexican Studies, UC Berkeley faculty initiated an effort to coordinate high quality interdisciplinary research and training on policy relevant issues related to the Chicano/Latino population in the United States. Three years later, in March 1989, the Project was officially approved by the campus administration and affiliated with the Institute for the Study of Social Change. The Project’s pioneers broke new ground when they established the Center for Latino Policy Research at UCB. The Project was governed by a Faculty Steering Committee, which included Joe Martínez, Margarita Melville, Alex Saragoza, and Guadalupe Valdés, with Martín Sánchez-Jankowski serving as Chair.
In 2010, the center became part of the newly-formed Institute for the Study of Societal Issues.
For a brief commentary on our CLPR logo, watch Luis Valdez explain the “Power of Zero” during his visit to CLPR in November of 2014.
Our vision for the Center includes fostering community participation in the research process, redefining how the university relates to the community, and also ensuring that our research products are relevant to and reach those most directly affected. We engage in collaborative work with a broad set of institutions (non-profit, governmental, and private). The result is a body of work and a set of policy recommendations rooted in rigorous academic research that are responsive to pressing and long-standing issues affecting Latinos within and outside the U.S.
History
The roots of the Center go back to the spring of 1986 through the creation of the working committee that developed the concept for the Chicano/Latino Policy Project, later renamed the Center for Latino Policy Research. With sponsorship from the Berkeley Program in Mexican Studies, UC Berkeley faculty initiated an effort to coordinate high quality interdisciplinary research and training on policy relevant issues related to the Chicano/Latino population in the United States. Three years later, in March 1989, the Project was officially approved by the campus administration and affiliated with the Institute for the Study of Social Change. The Project’s pioneers broke new ground when they established the Center for Latino Policy Research at UCB. The Project was governed by a Faculty Steering Committee, which included Joe Martínez, Margarita Melville, Alex Saragoza, and Guadalupe Valdés, with Martín Sánchez-Jankowski serving as Chair.
In 2010, the center became part of the newly-formed Institute for the Study of Societal Issues.
For a brief commentary on our CLPR logo, watch Luis Valdez explain the “Power of Zero” during his visit to CLPR in November of 2014.
