From Latinx to Latine: How We Are Evolving Alongside Our Community

As a community foundation, listening and learning from our partners is critical to our work. This type of organizational reflection enables us to improve how we do grantmaking, how we serve our donors, how we measure impact, and even how we communicate.   

When we first embarked on our strategic focus to close the Chicago region’s racial and ethnic wealth gap five years ago, we made the decision to start using the term ‘Latinx’ when referring to people with Latin American heritage. While the Spanish language generally uses gendered nouns, the emergence of ‘Latinx’ in the United States was in response to a call for more gender inclusivity in language and recognition of intersecting identities, including transgender and non-binary people.  

But language is an ever-changing medium – and recently, ‘Latine’ has emerged as a widely preferred alternative among many in the community. Whereas native Spanish speakers may have found ‘Latinx’ hard to pronounce, ‘Latine’ respects the grammatical structure of Spanish and is easier to use when speaking in Spanish. It also maintains the gender neutrality and inclusivity that ‘Latinx’ was trying to achieve.  

Recognizing this shift, some of our peer organizations have begun adopting ‘Latine’ in their materials, taking into account stakeholder feedback. In 2023, Chicago Latines in Philanthropy (CLIP) embraced ‘Latine’ and even incorporated it into its organizational name change, a decision that was made through thoughtful engagement with its members.  

Going forward, the Trust will be using ‘Latine’ as part of our organizational style guidelines when referring to people with Latin American heritage.  

We acknowledge that there is still an ongoing conversation over whether ‘Latine’ is the best term to use, which is why we will continue to keep our ear to the ground and listen to what our stakeholders are telling us. Because to be truly impactful with our work, we never forget how important it is to learn and grow alongside our community. When they evolve, we evolve with them.