Last week, NALCAB welcomed a curated group of seven member organizations from across the country, from California to Massachusetts, to Washington, DC for our 2026 Policy Forum. The two-day event brought together community development leaders to learn about, discuss, and advocate for policies that expand economic opportunity for Latino communities. This year’s Policy Forum reflected a key NALCAB strength: organizations rooted in their communities, coming together to elevate a collective voice on issues that matter.

We are thankful to have been joined by Dorchester Bay Economic Development Corporation, Mission Economic Development Agency, Allapattah Collaborative CDC, Community Capital New York, Ceiba, Community Economic Empowerment Network, and Inquilinos Boricuas en Acción. Their expertise, perspectives, and commitment to serving Latino communities made this year’s Forum an informative and impactful gathering.

Day one of the Forum featured a series of discussion circles. Participants heard from Storm Taliaferrow, Senior Director of NALCE, regarding the current state of Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) and discussed challenges and opportunities being seen in the industry. Members also heard from Kelly Cochran, Deputy Director and Chief Program Officer at FinRegLab and Dave Uejio, Chief Operating Officer at Prosperity Now, on potential use cases of integrating artificial intelligence (AI) into community development organizations. The day concluded with Luis Noé-Bustamante, Research Associate at Pew Research Center, presenting data on Latino voter sentiment and what it could mean for the 2026 midterm elections, providing valuable insights into the evolving policy and political landscape.

On day two, members headed to Capitol Hill to advocate for NALCAB’s federal policy priorities. Together, participants conducted 14 meetings with Members of Congress and congressional staff, sharing their firsthand perspectives on the needs of Latino communities and the critical role that community development organizations play in expanding access to affordable housing, capital, small business support, and economic opportunity.

We are grateful to the members who traveled to Washington, DC for this year’s Policy Forum. Your advocacy alongside your peers advances economic prosperity in Latino and low-to-moderate income communities nationwide, and we look forward to building on this momentum in the year ahead.