Rooted in Who We Are. Building What Comes Next.
Our Story
Twelve years ago, ISLA began as a dream; a vision to create a welcoming space where the Latine community could come together, celebrate their heritage, and embrace their language and culture.
What started as a small idea has grown into a thriving nonprofit dedicated to uplifting Hispanic and Latino families across North Carolina. Everything we do is rooted in the belief that education, language, and culture are powerful tools for transformation.
Our Vision
We envision an equitable society strengthened by the knowledge, power, and value of Latin American languages and cultures.
Our Mission
We build community and leadership through educational Spanish language and cultural immersion programs, empowering families and students to thrive.
Our Vision
We envision an equitable society strengthened by the knowledge, power, and value of Latin American languages and cultures.
Our Mission
We build community and leadership through educational Spanish language and cultural immersion programs, empowering families and students to thrive.
At ISLA, we measure success not just in numbers but in lives transformed. Since our founding, we've:
At ISLA, we measure success not just in numbers but in lives transformed.
Since our founding, we've:
Engaged 700+
students in immersive Spanish and cultural programs.
Delivered 800+ hours of Spanish language and cultural instruction annually.
Launched ISLA Impacta, empowering students with leadership and civic engagement skills.
Reached families in 6 countries, adapting programs to meet diverse community needs.
Through programs like Los Sábados, ISLA Verano, and ISLA Padres, we connect families from Latin America, fostering understanding and respect for each unique culture.
Engaged 700+
students in immersive Spanish and cultural programs.
Delivered 800+ hours
of Spanish language
and cultural
instruction annually.
Launched ISLA
Impacta, empowering students with
leadership and civic engagement skills.
Reached families in 6 countries, adapting programs to meet diverse community needs.
Through programs like Los Sábados, ISLA Verano, and ISLA Padres, we connect families from Latin America, fostering understanding and respect for each unique culture.
The challenges are clear!
18% of North Carolina students are Hispanic or Latinos
Latino teachers make up only 3% of the teaching workforce
Our community faces racial linguistic, & cultural discrimination
These students often face systemic barriers, internalizing biases that undervalue their multicultural identities. At ISLA, we’re rewriting this narrative. Our programs provide safe spaces where students and families can celebrate their heritage, embrace their bilingual skills, and feel empowered to own their stories.
Meet the ISLA Team
Josue D. Cardova
Executive Director
Cindy Salazar
Education Programs Manager
Soledad Oneto
Education Program Coordinator
Meet the Board Members
Alma Chanelo
Board President
Mildred Rodriguez
Ricardo Ekmay
Jennifer de Lima
Board Member Emeritus
Dr. Corina de la Torre
Jessica Pasion
Gary Shaw
Dr. Rosario Castillo-Villa
Meet the ISLA Team
Cindy Salazar
Education Programs Manager
Josue D. Cardova
Executive Director
Alejandra Sandoval
ISLA PADRES Program Manager
Meet the Board Members
Dayson Pasion
Board President
Jennifer de Lima
Vice President
Alma Rosa Chanelo
Spring Works Therapeutics
Our Sponsors
Our Sponsors
Rooted in Who We Are. Building What Comes Next.
Our Story
ISLA began with a belief that still guides us today: our language, culture, and community knowledge are strengths.
For more than a decade, ISLA has brought Latino children, families, educators, and young people together around Spanish, culture, literacy, and learning.
Today, that community is becoming something even more powerful.
ISLA creates spaces where children build confidence and belonging, families turn lived experience into leadership, young people explore and shape their futures, and community knowledge becomes a force for change.
We begin with what our community already carries, and build from there.
Raíces. Imaginación. Acción.
RAÍCES
Language. Culture. Identity. Knowledge. Belonging.
IMAGINACIÓN
Creating space for children, youth, and families to imagine what education, opportunity, and their communities can become.
ACCIÓN
Turning community knowledge into leadership, research, advocacy, and change.
Our Vision
We envision an equitable society strengthened by the knowledge, power, and value of Latin American languages and cultures.
Our Mission
To build a thriving Hispanic Latino community in North Carolina through Spanish heritage language, cultural learning, literacy, and education advocacy
Our Community Is Our Impact.
ISLA brings together hundreds of children, youth, families, and educators every year.
Through ISLA Los Sábados, children strengthen literacy, identity, and belonging.
Through ISLA Padres, families transform lived experience into leadership and community knowledge.
Through ISLA Impacta, young people develop their voices, investigate the issues affecting them, and imagine new possibilities for their communities.
And through community-based research and education advocacy, the knowledge created within our community reaches beyond ISLA.
From learning to leadership.
From lived experience to knowledge.
From community voice to community power.
The Challenge Is Bigger Than the Classroom.
Latino children and families are an increasingly important part of North Carolina’s future yet educational systems do not always reflect their languages, cultures, knowledge, or experiences.
20% of North Carolina public school students are Latino.
4% of their educators are.
When schools reflect the children they serve, every child can thrive.
By 2050, about one in four children in North Carolina is expected to be Latino.
Language discrimination persists. Latino educators remain underrepresented. Families encounter barriers to information and decision-making.
- Nearly one million North Carolinians speak Spanish at home.
- North Carolina caps funding for English learners, leaving some districts serving students the state doesn’t pay for.
- “In 2026, one North Carolina district closed Spanish dual language programs at 12 schools.”
And new challenges—from educational inequity to the rapidly changing digital and AI landscape—are shaping our communities.
- AI “cheating detectors” wrongly flagged 61% of essays written by people learning English.
- More than half of students and teachers now use AI for school.
- Most families hear little or nothing about how it’s used.
ISLA exists to help change that.
We don’t begin by asking what our communities lack.
We begin with what they already know, speak, carry, and imagine.
And we create pathways for children, families, and young people not simply to navigate the systems around them but to help shape what comes next.
The Future Is Rooted Here.
El desafío va más allá del aula.
Los niños, niñas, jóvenes y las familias latines son una parte cada vez más importante del futuro de Carolina del Norte; sin embargo, los sistemas educativos no siempre reflejan sus lenguas, culturas, conocimientos y experiencias.
El 20 % de los estudiantes de las escuelas públicas de Carolina del Norte son latines.
Solo el 4 % de sus educadores lo son.
Cuando las escuelas reflejan a los estudiantes a quienes sirven, todos los estudiantes pueden prosperar.
Para 2050, se prevé que aproximadamente uno de cada cuatro estudiantes en Carolina del Norte sea latino.
La discriminación lingüística persiste. Los educadores latinos siguen estando subrepresentados. Las familias enfrentan barreras para acceder a la información y participar en la toma de decisiones.
- Casi un millón de personas en Carolina del Norte hablan español en casa.
- Carolina del Norte pone un tope al financiamiento para estudiantes de inglés, por lo que algunos distritos atienden a estudiantes por los que el estado no paga.
- “En 2026, un distrito de Carolina del Norte cerró los programas de lenguaje dual en español en 12 escuelas”.
Y nuevos desafíos, desde la desigualdad educativa hasta el panorama digital y de inteligencia artificial (IA) que cambia rápidamente, están moldeando nuestras comunidades.
- Los detectores de contenido generado por IA marcaron erróneamente el 61 % de los ensayos escritos por personas que están aprendiendo inglés.
- Más de la mitad de los estudiantes y maestros ya usan la IA para la escuela.
- La mayoría de las familias escuchan poco o nada sobre cómo se usa.
ISLA existe para ayudar a cambiar eso.
No empezamos preguntando qué les falta a nuestras comunidades.
Empezamos con lo que ya saben, hablan, llevan consigo e imaginan.
Y creamos caminos para que niños, niñas,, familias y jóvenes no solo naveguen los sistemas que los rodean, sino que ayuden a diseñar lo que viene.
El futuro está se está diseñando en ISLA.
At ISLA, we measure success not just in numbers but in lives transformed.
Since our founding, we've:
Engaged 700+
students in immersive Spanish and cultural programs.
Delivered 800+ hours
of Spanish language
and cultural
instruction annually.
Launched ISLA
Impacta, empowering students with
leadership and civic engagement skills.
Reached families in 6 countries, adapting programs to meet diverse community needs.
Through programs like Los Sábados, ISLA Verano, and ISLA Padres, we connect families from Latin America, fostering understanding and respect for each unique culture.
Meet the ISLA Team
Josue D. Cordova
Executive Director
Soledad Oneto
Education Program Coordinator
Alejandra Sandoval
Gerente de Programas para Padres
Meet the Board of Directors
Alma Chanelo
Board President
Mildred Rodriguez
Ricardo Ekmay
Jenifer De Lima
Board Member Emeritus
Dr. Corina de la Torre
Gary Shaw
Jessica Pasion
Dr. Rosario Castillo Villa
Our Sponsors
