Senderos

Senderos is marking 20 years in Santa Cruz with a mission to create pathways to success and build community by sharing Latino culture through traditional arts and by fostering educational opportunities. Senderos, meaning pathways, celebrates Mexican culture and history through the artistic expression of dance and music, as well as supporting student academic success, adult basic education, and connections to community resources. All programming is free and this year we served 500 families. Senderos is well known for the Guelaguetza cultural festival, Latino Role Models Conference, and many community and school performances seen by 20,000 people annually (pre-COVID). Since the pandemic we expanded our mission to support the immediate needs of the immigrant community partnering with the Community Foundation of Santa Cruz County and other organizations. Through our affiliation with Santa Cruz City Schools, we use school sites for our activities. We are funded by state, local, foundation grants, individual and business donors. Part-time administrative support is provided through Arts Council Santa Cruz County. We are governed by a 16-member Board of Trustees and currently managed by a volunteer leadership team comprised of Senderos two co-founders and three Board members.