CAALE was founded, in 2013, by young Cuban American professionals working to create better opportunities for students in our communities. Shorthand, CAALE, pronounced as the Spanish word “CALLE,” meaning “street” or “road.”
CAALE’s mission is centered on supporting education within the community, in all of its forms. This mission takes root in three pillars, through which they fund their own merit-based college scholarship, administer a leadership development program, and facilitate cultural education.
Through the implementation of the three-tiered mission, they aim to create a platform that produces a legacy of educating students, guiding them into successful professions, and enabling them to become valuable leaders in our community. In seeking to preserve and cultivate stronger cultural identities among our next generation of leaders, they ask scholarship recipients to minor in Spanish and attend cultural events.
Offer the following programs:
THE PINOS NUEVOS SCHOLARSHIP
In one of the most famous speeches during his campaign for Cuban independence, Los Pinos Nuevos, Jose Martí draws a poetic comparison between the future growth of a pine tree observed on his journey, and the next generation of Cuban leaders participating in Cuba’s fight for independence, calling them Pinos Nuevos. Through CAALE’s Pinos Nuevos Scholarship, they recognize Jose Martí’s contributions while enabling the growth of our next generation of leaders through this merit-based college scholarship. The Pinos Nuevos Scholarship awards a graduating high school senior with $10,000 towards any college related costs. Awards are based on the applicant’s academic performance, leadership qualities, and ability to meet the requirements.
LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM
The CAALE Leadership Development Program is critical to their organizational vision, as it provides access to a transformative four-year leadership development experience for college students. The leadership development program is geared towards self-motivated college students with a desire to acquire new skills and information to enhance their personal and professional growth.
CULTURAL EDUCATION
As they strive to support education and develop the future leaders of our community, the organization aims to cultivate strong cultural identities as well. And while for Cuban-Americans, a visit to Cuba can be a uniquely complex experience, their experience has taught us that it fosters a deeper awareness of identity, family heritage, and commonality. To that end, they offer an optional immersion trip to Cuba for all scholarship recipients, which is funded by CAALE and operated by a partner organization.
Website: http://www.caale.org
