We believe
in human dignity.

CPLC began with a group of student and community activists who pushed back against racial discrimination.

Today, we are one of the largest Latino nonprofits in the country, providing services to people of all backgrounds while honoring our Mexican American roots.

Our programs give individuals and families a seat at the table. We facilitate growth through five Areas of Impact:

• Health & Human Services
• Housing
• Education
• Economic Development
• Advocacy

With offices in six southwestern states and clients across the country, CPLC impacts almost 1 million lives every year.

What is
“La Causa”?

"Chicano" is another word for Mexican Americans born in the United States and was popularized during the Civil Rights movement. It represents our unique raíces.

"La Causa" is the same today as it has always been—creating systemic change so that all people have the power to live a life of dignity.

What sets us apart?

CPLC provides integrated programs and services that treat the whole person—from infants through seniors. While our services are offered to all people, we have a special competence in serving the Latino community, where our movement began.

Chicanos Por La Causa (CPLC) formed in 1969 to fight discrimination against the Mexican American community.

Inspired by Dolores Huerta and Cesar Chavez, a coalition of students, neighbors, parents, and friends came together to demand equal opportunity.

In our early years, CPLC’s leaders organized student walkouts, farmworker protests and boycotts, and a statewide voter registration campaign that led to the election of Arizona’s first Hispanic governor.

Initially, CPLC’s young leaders
were dismissed as radicals.

But when Terri Cruz, a respected matriarch, joined our cause, she ignited the support of the community.

Acting as a unified whole, we brought impactful changes, including increased wages and safety standards for farmworkers, access to college-prep curriculum for high school students of color, and the election of many Chicano activists to public office.

In the decades that followed, CPLC shifted our efforts towards building the equitable future we knew was possible.

We expanded our focus to include community building, nonprofit service delivery, and advocating for systemic change.

2022 Annual Report

Here
We Stand

Learn more about the history of Arizona’s Chicano movement in Here We Stand: Chicanos Por La Causa and Arizona's Chicano/a Resurgence. This hardcover coffee-table book tells the little-known story of Arizona's vibrant Mexican American population, which played an integral role in the founding and development of Phoenix and Arizona at large.

Here We Stand is a reader-friendly introduction to this historically significant but often overlooked movement.

• Filled with captivating images from the period of focus (1968-1974)
• Edited by nationally-renowned historian Dr. Pete Dimas
• Hardcover, 9"x12", 64 pages

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Quién Eres

CPLC is proud to be the subject of a documentary by Arizona PBS, which recounts our journey over 50 years from community activists fighting discrimination in the 1960s to a multi-state nonprofit garnering visits from several sitting presidents, including President Obama in 2015. The documentary aired on Arizona PBS in 2019 to coincide with our 50^th anniversary.

View Documentary