In 2015, Compassion & Choices began a concerted effort to inform the Latino and Hispanic communities about the full breadth of end-of-life options. With its roots in California, where notable Latinos such as Dolores Huerta, Jorge Ramos and Maurico Ochmann advocated for the passage of the California End of Life Option Act, in 2017 Compassion & Choices formed the Latino Leadership Council and took this work national. The council advises Compassion & Choices to ensure that Latinos are empowered to take charge of their end-of-life care.
This includes:
Join us in our movement to empower more Latinos to take charge at the end of life:
Our advocates include highly respected Latinos who support increased efforts to empower the Latino community to take charge of their end-of-life experience.
| Spokesperson | Bio |
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 Dolores Huerta, Civil Rights Activist |
Dolores Huerta has been a powerful advocate for ensuring that more Latinos are educated about the importance of advance care planning and the full breadth of end-of-life options including advocating for passing medical aid-in-dying laws across the country. She serves on the Latino Leadership Council and has authored op-eds, lobbied legislators, spoken at events, and traveled coast-to-coast to ensure end-of-life humanity for all. In 2022, we honored her with our first Mission and Vision Award, which will carry her name and be given annually to other advocates who share her commitment to this movement. |
 Mauricio Ochmann, Popular Telenovela Actor |
Mauricio Ochmann, a member of our Latino Leadership Council, has lent his voice and star-appeal to educate Latinos about the importance of end-of-life options. He has written op-eds and appeared in videos, public service announcements and our magazine. |
 Jorge Ramos, Top Spanish-American News Anchor |
Jorge Ramos, the spokesperson of nearly 12 million Latinos, was a powerful voice for passage of the California End of Life Option Act. He publicly endorsed the bill in an interview with Dan Diaz, Brittany Maynard’s husband, before it was signed into law in October 2015. Jorge reiterated his support for authorizing medical aid in dying by writing an editorial in support of Brittany’s decision to die peacefully, and airing special news segments that exclusively focused on medical aid in dying. |
The Latino Leadership Council represents diverse groups of professionals, community and faith leaders, and experts in the fields of medicine, estate planning, and more. They:
Together, we will:
Compassion & Choices' many efforts have gained support from several leading national organizations that represent the Latino community.
| Organization | More Information |
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Ventanilla de Salud is a program developed by the Government of Mexico to provide reliable information on health topics, counseling and health-services referrals for Mexican and Hispanic families living in the United States. Joining forces with Ventanilla de Salud has given Compassion & Choices access, through Mexico’s entire consular network in the United States, to literally millions of people in one of our nation’s fastest-growing populations |
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The Dolores Huerta Foundation for Community Organizing aims to inspire communities to build volunteer organizations empowered to pursue social justice. Its grassroots work focuses on civic engagement, education equity, health and safety, and LGBTQIA+ equality. They believe that those most directly impacted by inequity have the knowledge to implement community-driven solutions when empowered with the tools, training and resources |
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Latinos for Healthcare Equity is a national organization working to improve access to quality affordable healthcare for the Latino community. They have partnered with us on efforts to educate the Latinos about advance care planning, endorsed medical aid in dying, and served as a collaborator and thought partner on our work to address inequities in end-of-life care. GLAA.org |
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The Latino Commission on AIDS is a nonprofit organization acting in response to the critical, unmet need for HIV prevention and care for Latinos. The Commission realizes its mission by spearheading health advocacy for Latinos, promoting HIV education, developing model prevention programs for high-risk communities, and by building capacity in community organizations. The Latino Commission on AIDS has proudly served the Latino LGBTQ population and is committed to creating and promoting a safe space. The Commission founded the Hispanic Health Network, dedicated to eradicating health disparities in our the Latino community. Guillermo Chacon, its president and CEO, serves on Compassion & Choices’ Latino Leadership Council and provides guidance on the many cultural issues affecting patients and families at the end of life. |
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The Latinx National Task Force is an independent grassroots coalition of national, state and local organizations/members coming together to address gaps in resources, bilingual information, data, policy and funding. Compassion & Choices partners with the task force to strategically articulate, bridge and connect Latino/Hispanic people with end-of-life care resources. |
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Research, Education and Access for Community Health (R.E.A.C.H.) is a nonprofit organization that provides evidenced-based research, information, development and implementation of programs to improve community health services and access to care in the state of Nevada. This collaboration aids in mass dissemination of educational materials about end-of-life care options within the Hispanic/Latino community. |
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The National Hispanic Council on Aging has worked with Compassion & Choices to advance the full range of end-of-life options for nearly a decade. Their support has included translation assistance, op-eds and participation in our leadership council by their president, Dr. Yanira Cruz; an endorsement of medical aid in dying; and collaboration in our work to reduce inequities in end-of-life care. |
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New Mexico Community Health Worker Association/ Nuestra Salud is a nonprofit organization by and for community health workers whose mission is to nurture the Community Health Worker Model to collectively improve access and quality of healthcare for people by advocating for and empowering its members. Compassion & Choices collaborates with the association by providing capacity-building training to Latino Community Health Workers/ Promotoras de Salud about end-of-life and advance healthcare planning. |
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Latina SHARE is a national nonprofit organization that supports, educates and empowers anyone who has been diagnosed with women’s cancers, and provides outreach to the general public about signs and symptoms. Latina SHARE has collaborated with Compassion & Choices on the Nuestra Voz Nuestras Historias (Our Voice Our Stories) initiative to give voice to the Latino population at the end of life. |
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The Mexican Coalition for the Empowerment of Youth and Families’ mission is to develop the individual, organizational and community capacities that will enable Latinos and Mexican Americans to realize their full civic, cultural and political integration into American society in the Latino community in New York. Compassion & Choices and Coalicion Mexicana joined forces to provide capacity-building training to Latino community health workers about end-of-life and advanced healthcare planning in New York. |
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Howard Brown Health is one of the nation’s leading LGBTQ organizations. Through our partnership with their elder services program, we are able to better serve and participate in conversations regarding end-of-life care options in both English and Spanish. |
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The Hispanic Heritage Foundation (HHF) is an award-winning nonprofit that identifies, inspires, prepares and positions Latino leaders in the classroom, community and workforce to meet America’s priorities. The HHF was established by the White House in 1988. Compassion & Choices is teaming up with HHF to get people talking about end-of-life planning, hospice, life support, medical power of attorney and medical aid-in-dying. Their involvement has included op-eds and a social media campaign to promote the End-of-Life Decisions Guide and Toolkit in both Spanish and English. |
In English:
Más Hispanos de California con enfermedades terminales superaron las brechas de equidad en salud al utilizar el End of Life Option Act o Ley de Opción de Fin de Vida que permite a los adultos con enfermedades terminales, en pleno uso de sus facultades mentales, la opción de morir pacíficamente. Esto representó un incremento que…
A new report from the California Department of Health on the End of Life Option Act shows 79% more Hispanics – 43 Hispanic Californians- used the state’s medical aid in dying law in 2023, compared to the 24 Hispanic Californians (less than 3%) who used the law in 202
(Washington, D.C. – Abril 16, 2024) Compassion & Choices reconoce al National Latinx Task Force por aprobar una resolución para informar, empoderar y abogar por una planificación integral de cuidados para el fin de vida para la comunidad latina/hispana. La resolución fue aprobada en noviembre del 2023. Esta resolución histórica representa un momento nuevo y…
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