CLLARO’s mission is to empower Latinos through leadership development, advocacy, and policy research to strengthen Colorado. CLLARO’s vision for the future is a State of Colorado where Latinos achieve their fullest potential.More than one out of five Coloradans are Latino. Some Latino families have centuries-old roots in the southwestern United States. Spanish colonists grazed sheep in southern Colorado in the 1600s, long before the U.S. took the southwest from México by force in 1848. Other Latinos in Colorado are—like most Americans—either immigrants or descendants of immigrants. Today, Latinos play a vital and constructive role in the Colorado economy. Nevertheless, Latinos’ median annual household income is $23,550 below that of non-Hispanic whites. Twenty-eight percent of Latino children live in poverty. While Colorado’s high school four-year graduation rate in Colorado has increased to 79%, Latinos still lag behind at 71%. The percentage of Latinos lacking health insurance is over two-and-a-half times that of whites. The average size of Latino households is shrinking, causing greater time and economic pressures on Latinos trying to care for disabled and elderly family members. Colorado’s Latino elderly population is growing nearly twice as fast as other Coloradans over 65, and will more than triple between 2010 and 2030.