Happy 2026!
And I promise this will be the last of our end-of-year startup updates for The Latino Newsletter.
Over the last couple of weeks, I shared our 2025 strategic wins, how we ended a foundational year for us, with the data to prove it.
I had initially planned to file this final update on New Year’s Eve 2025, but then I chose not to. Our team had already sent out a final fundraising email, and it was time to rest a bit. Then I woke up to a lovely snowy day in Boston and figured I would start 2026 with some journaling, which led to this post. So here we are.
We set a $50,000 individual donation goal for 2025 and reached 42 percent of it. Several of you gave on December 31, and as of today, your support totaled $21,424. ¡Gracias!
Now that The Latino Newsletter has a dedicated Development and Fundraising team — one we formally launched in September 2025 (before that, I was the solo fundraiser) — I have no doubt that we will reach and exceed that $50,000 target as we continue to produce our work and deliver on the journalism and commentary you deserve.
As this time last year, I had just completed an 18-month job search and decided that if The Latino Newsletter were to continue, we needed to deliver on a 2025 strategic plan that 1) made sense for the smart and sustainable growth of this outlet and 2) freed up a lot of my time due to my day job responsibilities. At times, that transition felt a bit daunting and overwhelming, but one year later, we did it, and I enter 2026 with a proud feeling of accomplishment that nobody can ever take away from me. (And yes, I also love my day job.)
I have never been more excited about where The Latino Newsletter will go next, although I am also very aware that we are only as good as the work we publish and the trust we build with our subscribers, followers, supporters, reporters, producers, editors, and contributors.
Our 2026 Goals
This year’s strategic plan is not as lengthy as the 2025 one because The Latino Newsletter’s foundation has been built. We have a runway entering this year — that wasn’t a reality at the start of 2025 — and a plan to give it our very best.
Here is what we hope to accomplish this year:
Publish a daily edition of The Latino Newsletter from Monday to Friday with a team of one Publisher and three Deputy Editors.
Expand our journalism work in Puerto Rico and Massachusetts, while exploring other bureau openings outside of Boston and San Juan.
Deliver on 13 more episodes of our podcast’s second season with host Michelle Zacarias and raise funds for a third season. We will also actively seek a distribution and/or production partner. The team is doing stellar work, and we see the podcast as a major growth opportunity.
Produce the American Colony podcast for a July 2026 premiere. I am partial to launching the series on July 4, and we are in the middle of finalizing our production plan and team.
Announce a host for American Colony. (It will not be me. Am good.) We are also going to open up the podcast to producer pitches that fully align with the series’ overall arc. Stay tuned for more updates about this later this month. We will also finalize our distribution plan. I believe we will produce a winning series of stories that rarely get told the way they should be.
Establish and execute a clear succession plan. I will be taking on a more backseat role and will pass the baton to the new team here. I am not going away, but you will be seeing more new faces in leadership positions. This was always the mission of The Latino Newsletter.
Currently, we are a $350,000 nonprofit, and we will meet our 2026 goals because of this and our operating model. Yet to really achieve the dream, we need to become a $1 million organization. That can take a year or 10 years. That is the vision, and we are ready to run the race to make it a reality. I can’t guarantee that we will ever achieve that — and our core team knows it will take a lot of hard work to even sniff at $1 million — but I can say that we have the team and work culture to go for it.
We will do our best, and we will always share our journey with you, no matter the outcome.
Peace to you this 2026, and thank you for making The Latino Newsletter part of your world.
Julio
The Latino Newsletter will be back with a new edition on Monday, January 5.
Donation Update
We received several donations this week. Yay! You can always give anytime.
Julio Ricardo Varela is the founder of The Latino Newsletter. He is also its current part-time publisher and executive director. He edited and published this edition of The Latino Newsletter.