April 23, 2025

Community-Driven Policy: Lessons from the Illinois Legislative Latino Caucus Foundation with State Senator Celina Villanueva and Executive Director Oswaldo Alvarez

47 minutes

If you’re listening to this on Wednesday April 23rd, there’s still time for you to join us Tonight for our live storytelling event at 6:30pm in Highland Park, get free tickets at tamarindopodcast.com/live

We met with representatives from the Illinois Legislative Latino Caucus Foundation to talk about their 2025 Raices Report and how it helps advance a community-driven policy agenda for Latinos in Illinois and why it matters beyond that state.

Celina Villanueva, a proud Chicago native, serves as the State Senator for Illinois' 12th District and co-chair of the Illinois Legislative Latino Caucus Foundation. At her core, she is a community organizer, always working to amplify the voices of those she represents in Springfield.Passionate about environmental justice and raising awareness for domestic violence, Celina continues to champion these causes.

Oswaldo Alvarez is a Chicago native who currently serves as the Executive Director of the Illinois Legislative Latino Caucus Foundation (ILLCF), where he oversees all programs, operations, and organizational development. Before joining the ILLCF, Alvarez was appointed by Governor JB Pritzker as Illinois’ inaugural Census Director. In this role, he led the state to achieve its highest self-response rate ever, ranking first among states with over nine million residents. Fluent in Spanish, he has dedicated his career to serving and uplifting the Latino community in Illinois.

Tamarindo is a lighthearted show hosted by Brenda Gonzalez and Delsy Sandoval talking about politics, culture, and self-development. We’re here to uplift our community through powerful conversations with changemakers, creatives, and healers. Join us as we delve into discussions on race, gender, representation, and life! You can get in touch with us at www.tamarindopodcast.com

Brenda Gonzalez and Delsy Sandoval are executive producers of Tamarindo podcast with production support by Karina Riveroll of Sonoro Media. Jeff Ricards produced our theme song. If you want to support our work, please rate and review our show here.

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