Make the Road New York was created in 2007 when two New York City-based organizations, Make the Road by Walking and the Latin American Integration Center (LAIC), merged. It helped community members organize to change the public conversation about welfare and improving policy. LAIC, founded in 1992 in
Jackson Heights, Queens, provided support to Latin American immigrants in the form of community organizing, adult education, and citizenship assistance. Make the Road New York opened a Long Island office in
Brentwood in 2012 to serve
Nassau and
Suffolk Counties’ growing immigrant communities. In 2018, through a merger with the Westchester Hispanic Coalition, it began working with immigrant and working-class communities in
Westchester County out of its White Plains Office. In April 2021, co-executive directors Deborah Axt and Javier Valdés stepped down, and Arlenis Morel, Jose Lopez, and Theo Oshiro became the new co-executive directors. The current executive team consists of Co-Executive Directors Jose Lopez, Arlenis Morel, and Sienna Fontaine. ==References==