Latino Policy Forum president, CEO stepping down after 16 years: 'It's up to this next generation'

CHICAGO (WLS) -- A new change in leadership: The president of the Latino Policy Forum is stepping down.

Sylvia Puente has led the organization for 16 years.

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The CEO said it's time for the next generation of leaders to run the group.

Flipping through old photo albums with her mother, Puente credits the 87-year-old for opening her eyes to injustices within the Latino community.

"When I was very young, my mother took me to my first picket line, and literally spent a good amount of time working in support of the Illinois farm workers," Puente said.

But, Puente realized after graduating from college, the first in her family to do so, change takes more than marches, pickets and protests.

"You also need to understand the magnitude of the issue; so, you need data, research and information," Puente said.

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After getting her master's degree from the University of Chicago in public policy, Puente spent her career using data to inform state lawmakers about inequality within the Latino community.

Puente was instrumental in getting big pieces of legislation passed, including the nation's first capital grant for early childhood education facilities.

"A substantial amount went into Latino communities to literally build facilities so that our children could get access to quality early childhood education," Puente said.

For the past 16 years, Puente has been the president and CEO of the Latino Policy Forum, a non-profit that she built into a national model for how Latinos can impact public policy on a state level. But, at almost 66 years old, Puente said it's time to pass the torch.

"It's up to this next generation of leadership to shape their destiny, to shape a better future for not just our Latino families and children, but for all," Puente said.

As she prepares to step aside for younger Latino leaders, Puente said she is proud of how far Illinois Latinos have come since her early days in Springfield, when there was one Latino lawmaker.

"When I started this work, only about 6-7% of Latinos are college graduates. Now, they're twice that," Puente said.

Puente will step down at the end of the year to give the Latino Policy Forum enough time to name her successor. Puente will stay on as a senior advisor, but will first take several months off for herself.