The Colorado Latino Leadership, Advocacy, & Research Organization (CLLARO) was founded in 1964 as LARASA – the Latin American Research and Service Agency. Although Latinos have been in Colorado a long time and some families can trace their roots here to the 1600s, when the organization was founded in Denver in 1964, there was widespread discrimination. The city’s neighborhoods, labor market, churches and public schools were more strictly segregated than they are today. LARASA was founded to help Latinos gain access to quality education, job development and training opportunities, health services, meaningful work, and, ultimately, to lead successful lives.
