López De León named President and CEO of NALAC

The board of directors of NALAC – The National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures announced that its Executive Director, María López De León, has been named President and Chief Executive Officer, and Deputy Director, Adriana Gallego, has been named Chief Operating Officer. Ms. Lopez De Leon has exponentially expanded the organization’s budget, programs and national profile since she took the reins in 2002. Ms. Gallego joined the organization in 2012 and has worked side by side with Ms. Lopez De Leon to further NALAC’s capacity to serve its constituencies. These changes herald NALAC’s place as the premier national Latino arts service organization in the U.S.
 
“María López De León has transformed NALAC into a national force and a powerful voice that has had a major impact in improving the Latino arts field and the arts in America. Her leadership, supported by Adriana Gallego, has ushered in a new era of development and success for Latino artists and organizations,” said Charles Rice-Gonzalez, the NALAC board chair.
 
“It’s an honor to be named as the first President and CEO of the NALAC.  I thank the board of directors for their continued trust in me as together, we lead the organization into its next phase of development and growth to support the Latino arts and culture sector.  Latino artists and organizations are at the forefront of impacting the nation’s cultural legacy, and NALAC will continue to lead advocacy and policy efforts to achieve equity for our field,” shared Ms. De León.
 
María López De León has been with NALAC for eighteen years and has served as Executive Director for fourteen years. Ms. De León has been involved in all aspects of development and implementation of the NALAC programs and strategic initiatives. Under her leadership, NALAC developed and launched three grant programs, developed sixteen editions of the renowned annual Leadership Institute, six convenings of the Advocacy Leadership Institute in Washington, DC; directed the convening of eight NALAC National Conferences and thirty Regional Arts Training Workshops across the country. In January 2013, President Obama appointed Ms. De León to serve on the National Council on the Arts. In 2012 and 2013, Ms. De León was named among the nation’s Fifty Most Powerful and Influential People in the Nonprofit Arts.

Adriana Gallego was the first Deputy Director of the NALAC, overseeing the organization’s services, grantmaking, capacity building initiatives and program development. She is originally from the rural border community of Nogales Arizona-Sonora. Influenced by her experiences on the border, Gallego channeled her social concerns through the arts as a painter, educator and administrator. Before coming to NALAC, she was Director of Strategic Initiatives with the Arizona Commission on the Arts, Educational Assistant at the Norton Simon Museum, and arts educator throughout the Southwest. In Tucson, she co-founded Raices Taller 222 Art Gallery & Workshop.