Our History
Recapturing and Reclaiming our True Spirit
For over 20 years The National Compadres Network has been working with individuals and organizations dedicated to engaging men and fathers in an effort to strengthen the development of children, families, and communities.
NCN grew from a small gathering of Latino-Chicano men that was held in Jolon, California in 1988. These men gathered in a Circulo de Amistad y Compadrazgo (circle of friendship & extended kinship) in order to clarify their roles and responsibilities as men and to individually and collectively search for a way to rebalance the harmful experiences we sometimes bring to ourselves, the women in our lives, our children, our families and the community. The discussion that was held incorporated honest dialog, ceremony, and reflection.
These founding members had previous experience developing effective programmatic efforts that served the Latino community and knew firsthand that many
Over one thousand men and their sons have attended the yearly Hombres Retiros in Jolon, California since 1988 and from this commitment came the “Circulos de Hombres” movement where many participants have taken the teaching from the Círculos de Amistad y Compadrazgo to their own communities across the country. Presently, círculos exist in over 50-cities across the nation and reach thousands more men in a manner that allows them to nurture their positive purpose through connecting with other men in their home towns.
In 2000 several founding members launched the National Compadres Network as a formal not-for-profit organization (501c3) in response to many local and national requests to oversee the development of these smaller localized círculos. NCN now serves as a vehicle to promote the lessons learned from gatherings and círculos, and to support and assist interested communities and organizations in filling an enormous gap in culturally competent services to Latino men, their families and the Latino community as a whole. NCN also sponsors conferences at the local and national level, and has launched national campaigns to address many issues including domestic violence, teen pregnancy, gang violence, and literacy. Finally, as part of its membership, NCN includes recognized leaders in many social service fields who provide on-going consultation and technical assistance at the local and national level. These professional experts train service providers in a number of culturally competent curriculums addressing a variety of issues including; family violence, gang violence, teen pregnancy prevention, teen fatherhood, Latino Male Youth Rites of Passage, fatherhood literacy, fatherhood parenting and others.
This 20-year effort has dispelled the long held belief that Latino men cannot contribute to the health and well-being of their community and replaced it with young and adult men that have dedicated themselves to reconnecting with their cultural values for self-and collective betterment.
