Queen Sofía Spanish Institute

The Queen Sofía Spanish Institute (QSSI) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving knowledge and wisdom about the Hispanic legacy, past and present. Founded in 1954, the Institute serves as a cultural bridge between the United States, Spain, and the Spanish-speaking world, so that ties of friendship may be formed, mutual understanding promoted, and bonds of peace strengthened.

The mission today recognizes that there are more walls than bridges standing between Spanish- speaking communities in the United States, which affects global cultural understanding. Thus, QSSI’s role as a cultural and educational organization continue to evolve in consequence.

Through multi-focused educational programs in history, maps and globes and art and literature, the QSSI provides cultural enrichment about the grand legacy provided about Spanish speakers in the United States which contributed to the development of the United States. It represents the untold narrative that needs a voice.

This Institute’s mission looks to celebrate our shared identity as Spanish speakers in order to foster inclusion, advance allyship, and spark change. Our diverse cultural heritage is a tool to unite us, not drive us apart.

At the Queen Sofía Spanish Institute, we believe it is our responsibility to furnish Spanish speakers of all backgrounds a forum for cultural exchange. Through the events we host, activities we sponsor, partnerships we build, and prizes we bestow, we seek to elevate the voices of those we represent so that they may be heard equally and create a space in which we all belong. This year, we recommit ourselves to finding common ground.