National Latina Health Organization

Inspired by the health activism of African American women, especially the 1983 Spelman conference, Luz Alvarez Martinez co-founded the National Latina Health Organization (NLHO) in 1986, the first national organization by and for Latinas working on health issues and using the Self-Help framework pioneered by the National Black Women's Health Project. Based in San Francisco, the organization was especially committed to providing young Latinas safe spaces in which to discuss health concerns and also ran workshops for teenagers on building self-esteem. In 1997 the NLHO became a charter member of a new organization, the SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Health Collective. In 2005, Martinez retired from the National Latina Health Organization and the organization shut down soon thereafter.

From the guide to the National Latina Health Organization Records MS 686., 1986-2003, (Sophia Smith Collection)