Overview

The National Latinx Theater Initiative (NLTI) is a distinct program of the Los Angeles-based Latino Theater Company (LTCo). The LTCo serves as a champion for its artistic ensemble, staff, and community, and for the Latinx theater sector writ large.

Inspired by The Black Seed, a first-ever national strategic plan conceptualized and led by the Black theater field to create impact and thrivability for Black theater institutions, the National Latinx Theater Initiative is an unprecedented effort by the nation’s philanthropic community to deploy significant resources to the Latinx theater sector.

The Need for NLTI:

Culturally specific Latinx theater companies across the United States and Puerto Rico serve the fastest-growing demographic in the country, yet they continue to be systematically underfunded.

The Census Bureau estimates that there are roughly 63 million Hispanics in the U.S. as of 2022, comprising nearly 19% of the nation's population—both figures are new highs. The Pew Research Center estimates that by the year 2050, the U.S. population will be 29% Hispanic.

However, in 2018, only $24.3 million in funding support was awarded to ALL nonprofit Latinx arts and culture organizations in the U.S.—not just Latinx theaters. Grantmakers in the Arts statistics show that this figure represents less than 1% of the total $3 billion awarded by foundations to organizations in the arts and culture sector that year (the last year for which both these figures are available). While philanthropic giving increased to $73.8 million in 2020, we have yet to see whether these grants were one-time investments or if they will continue to grow.

Moreover, Latinx arts organizations have suffered disproportionately from the ravages of the pandemic. Yet despite the challenges to stay financially viable and operating with budgets of less than $3 million, approximately 140 Latinx theater companies have persevered and continue to serve their communities.

There has never been a more pressing moment for an initiative like NLTI to rally support for Latinx theater companies. This is the first time that prominent U.S. funders are banding together to address the perennial underfunding of a sector of the American theater that speaks directly to the “largest minority group in the country.”