How Empower LATAM UK was born

Empower LATAM UK: The charity created by young Latin Americans for young Latin Americans.

Empower LATAM UK was born when four young Latin Americans, César, Elizabeth, Andy, and Pablo, met at university. Through their involvement in leading a student-run society representing the Latin American community at the university, they tried to address some of the issues facing other young Latin Americans like them. This included providing a hub were Latin Americans students could share information and advice, events where they could celebrate their culture, and a safe spaces where we people could discuss topics relevant to their experience. The student-run group also collaborated with other groups to lead a campaign to increase the visibility of Latin Americans (students and staff) at their university, including successfully pushing for their university to include a 'Latin American' category to their forms. 

The group's experience in their society taught them several key things. Through research and discussions with others like them, the group realised that many young Latin Americans struggled with the same barriers that did not affect many other young people as much. For example, them and many of their peers were finding it hard to gain work experience or even job interviews. In contrast, they saw how other young people could rely on their parent's connections or experiences to secure internships, as well as how they knew many more resources that could help them. The group decided that, as there was no existing organisation that could effectively provide the help that they and other young Latin Americans needed, they needed to create it themselves to help future generations of young people in their community.

After several months of further research and many meetings in between classes, Empower LATAM UK officially became a registered charity on a mission to support young Latin Americans in the UK.