Office of Latino Affairs of the District of Columbia

The Office on Latino Affairs of the District of Columbia (OLA) was created by the passage of DC Law 1-86 by the city council on September 29, 1976 and was made part of the Executive office of the Mayor of the District of Columbia. The original bill co-sponsors included city council-members Marion S. Barry, Polly Shackleton, and John A. Wilson

The original draft of the law was crafted by Latino community activist Jose Gutierrez, Sonia Gutierrez, founder of the Carlos Rosario Charter School and Bruce C. French, legislative counsel, D.C. City Council. The legislation has been used as a model by many municipalities across the United States.

The purpose of OLA is to serve the Latino community in D.C. as an intermediary between governmental agencies and the private sector, in order to improve the quality of life for the Latino population, living in D.C. Some of its duties include addressing social or economic needs with strategic alliances between public and private sector, increasing Latino community participation through training and knowledge dissemination in government procedures and practices, increasing government and Latino community public relationships, and fostering civic compromise.

OLA has helped thousands of Latino individuals and families gain access to governmental and public non-profit services through its advocacy and grants programs. [1]