La Oportunidad Receives the 2026 DAMUS Award for Excellence in Equitable Youth Programming

On April 30, 2026 La Oportunidad received the DAMUS Award at a ceremony hosted by the 2026 Damus Board at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul. In 2026, the Damus Board selected three awardees, one of them was our organization, who received the award for Excellence in Equitable Youth Programming. We are very grateful and honored to receive this recognition for the crucial work we do with/for our Latino youth!

Eloisa Echavez, La Oportunidad’s Executive Director and Juan Schroeder, 2026 DAMUS Board Member

DAMUS Program Director Julie Sivula Reiter, JD and 2026 DAMUS Board Members

About the Damus Board (taken from their website):

“The Damus Board is a philanthropic project, fully funded by individual donors, that supports the development of ethical business leaders working for the common good. Students selected to be a part of the Damus Board collaborate to award funds to nonprofit organizations invited to apply for the grant. In recent years, the Board has awarded over $30,000 per year to nonprofits in our community.

Students on the Board engage in professional development activities and learn consensus decision-making strategies. They work together to create an application and evaluation criteria for the organizations, visit and interview finalists, select the awardees, and host a celebratory awards event.

In recent years, the Damus Board has funded organizations working to address racial inequities in our community. As part of its decision-making process, the Board decides how to further focus this goal to support racial justice.”

Eloisa Echávez Receives the NFL-Vikings/HHF Hispanic Leadership Award

The Minnesota Vikings honored Eloisa Echávez, Executive Director of La Oportunidad, with the NFL Hispanic Heritage Month Leadership Award, in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, on September 24, 2017 when they faced the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at the U.S. Bank Stadium. The National Football League (NFL) and Hispanic Heritage Foundation (HHF) have partnered for the seventh annual NFL Hispanic Heritage Leadership Awards to recognize the contributions of Hispanic leaders around the country, 32 of which were honored by an NFL team. Eloisa, and the other national award recipients, were recognized in a pre-game ceremony by their state team and chose a local Hispanic serving organization to receive a $2,000 grant donation (Eloisa chose La Oportunidad). We are extremely proud of our Executive Director!

La Oportunidad Featured on Youthprise Blog – An article about the programs and impact of La Oportunidad recently featured in Youthprise’s blog.

Four Auggies and a Nonprofit – An article published and distributed to thousands by Augsburg College’s Alumni and Family Relations Department featuring La Oportunidad.  The article highlights La Oportunidad’s Executive Director and three La Oportunidad board members who are all Augsburg alumni.

15th Annual Latino Youth Leadership Conference – A report about our 15^th Annual Latino Youth Leadership Conference that was featured on Youthprise’s website and blog.