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The National Latina Health Organization is founded.

1986

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Led by Alvarez Martinez, Paulita Ortiz, Alicia Bejarano, and Elizabeth Gastelumendi, the group convenes in 1986 to build a statement of purpose and goals for what will become the National Latina Health Organization.

Influenced by the self-help model developed by Byllye Avery and the National Black Women's Health Project, they promote "self-help" groups as "a vehicle for taking greater control of our health practices and lifestyles." Their primary goal is to "raise consciousness among Latinas about Latina health and bilingual access to quality healthcare of Latinas" (Gutiérrez, 2004).

Within the first few years, they will organize a groundbreaking national conference on Latina health issues, with over 350 women from all over the U.S. attending bilingual workshops on curandera healing traditions to sexuality.

They will go on to create the program "Latinas for Reproductive Choice," which becomes one of the leading voices to expand the definition of reproductive choice to include choosing how to have families, and to advocate for access to quality and dignified care for Latinx communities.