STRATEGIC DIRECT SERVICES, LASTING SYSTEMIC CHANGE
Our strategy intertwines high-impact direct services with bold, place-based initiatives that address the root causes of injustice.
For over four decades, Canal Alliance has evolved in step with the changing needs, goals, and aspirations of Marin’s Latino community. This evolution is grounded in our unwavering commitment to social justice and shaped by the voices of our clients as they share their goals, aspirations, and the challenges they face.
The challenges faced by our community are not isolated problems. They are symptoms of larger social, economic, and political systems that were not designed to serve everyone equally. Recognizing this, our strategy intertwines high-impact direct services with bold, place-based initiatives that address the root causes of injustice. While we support families in overcoming immediate obstacles, we also work in partnership with residents, public agencies, and private institutions to transform the systems that shape their lives.
We focus on five key leverage points that, together, support individual wellbeing, safety, and opportunity while advancing community-wide change:
- Individual & Family Wellbeing: Meeting urgent needs so families can pursue long-term goals.
- Dignified & Affordable Housing: Advancing access to safe, stable housing to provide a foundation for opportunity.
- Legal Rights & Safety: Ensuring every person understands their legal rights and options, and can live and work with dignity and justice.
- Education & Career Training: Building pathways to college and careers that provide lasting economic mobility.
- Strong & Resilient Neighborhoods: Shifting power to residents through civic engagement, advocacy, Latino votership, and neighborhood planning.
This approach, which is grounded in systems design and a deep commitment to social justice, responds to the needs — and leverages the inherent strengths — of Marin’s Latino community. It is our way of honoring the past, engaging meaningfully in the present, and building a future where equity is not a distant aspiration but a lived reality for all.
Together, we are building strong programs, shared power, and lasting opportunity for generations to come.
In partnership,
Omar Carrera
Chief Executive Officer