Our Mission
At Conexión Américas, our mission is to build a welcoming community and create opportunities where Latino families can belong, contribute, and succeed.
Every year, we assist more than 9,000 individuals and their families in their desire to start businesses, improve their English, help their children succeed in school and go to college, and become an integral part of Nashville’s social, cultural and economic vitality.
Conexión Américas is the lead partner of Casa Azafrán, a nonprofit collaborative at the gateway to Nashville’s International District that is home to Conexión Américas and nine partners.
Our Approach
We believe successful efforts to promote the integration of immigrant families into their new community recognize that integration is a multi-dimensional process.
Therefore, Conexión Américas focuses on advocating for, and supporting the integration of, Latino families in three inter-dependent areas of human development:
- Social Integration
- Economic Integration
- Civic Integration
Promoting Integration: A Two-Way Street
We also believe that true integration of immigrant families is achieved when the process is understood as a two-way learning experience that engages both the newcomers and the host community in reciprocal understanding, respect and adaptation.
Therefore, at Conexión Américas we deliberately employ a dual strategy to achieve our mission:
- We help low- and moderate-income Latino families realize their aspirations for a better quality of life by providing comprehensive services: from information and referrals (social integration); to assistance in buying a home (economic integration); and opportunities for developing leadership skills (civic integration)
- We help our host community (long-time residents, non-profit groups, government agencies, businesses) understand the presence, contributions and challenges of Latino families in Tennessee, primarily through our advocacy and public awareness efforts.