AUGUST 19-22, 2026 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
Estamos Aquí - CHICAGO
LATINOS
IN HERITAGE CONSERVATION
What is Congreso?
Congreso is the national gathering of Latinos in Heritage Conservation.
Since 2014, it has brought together architects, historians, artists, preservationists, educators, culture keepers, and community leaders who are shaping the future of Latinx heritage.
Held every two years, it moves with the movement and adapts to the needs of our communities.
The name recalls El Congreso de Pueblos de Habla Española, a coalition of civil rights and labor organizations that first convened in Los Angeles in 1938. Its spirit lives in the way Congreso brings people together to protect stories, places, and communities that have been overlooked, displaced, or erased.
Each host city adds to the work. Providence in 2018, Denver in 2022, San Diego in 2024, Chicago in 2026 (19-22 Aug, Palmer House) with Miami and New York on the horizon for 2028 and 2030.
In every place, participants learn from the neighborhoods that hold cultural memory and from the people who sustain it.
Congreso is where participants gain knowledge, tools, and relationships that strengthen preservation efforts at home.
It is a space for learning, organizing, and building the power needed to ensure our communities remain rooted in the places they call home.
Why Chicago?
Chicago is a living archive of migration, labor, resistance, and reinvention. Afro Latinx, Indigenous, Mexican, Central American, Caribbean, and working-class communities have shaped the city’s cultural landscape for generations. It is the right place to build what comes next, especially as the city considers policies that will shape community safety, patterns of displacement, and who is able to remain part of Chicago’s cultural fabric.
Latinx Heritage Leadership Summit
Theme
Estamos Aquí (We are here) -
A collective affirmation of presence, belonging, and cultural power.
August 19-22, Palmer House,
Chicago, Illinois
Event Schedule
Three days of conversations, workshops, community gatherings, and storytelling rooted in the places, memories, and futures that shape Latinx heritage. From preservation practice and public history to belonging, migration, advocacy, and cultural memory, Congreso 2026 is designed to bring together people working across disciplines, generations, and communities.
Below, you’ll find the daily schedule organized by programming pillar. We are continuing to update session details, speakers, and timing as the event approaches, so check back regularly for new additions and announcements. We cannot wait to welcome you to Chicago this August!
8:00am - 5:00pm
-
History of Latinos in Chicago
-
Panel 1: Aquí Estamos: Afro-Latinx Histories, Power, and Place
-
Panel 2: Aquí en el Midwest: Latinx Heritage in the Heartland
-
Breakout Session 1: Latino Leadership in Historic Trades and Workforce Development
-
Panel 3: Migration, Labor, and Infrastructures of Belonging
-
Breakout Session 2: Shared Memory as Pathways to Connection: Grief, Belonging, and Ancestral Healing
-
Community Events: Culture & Comunidad Fair, Silent Auction and Scholar Presentations
6:00pm - 9:00pm
Welcome Reception
-
8:00am - 5:00pm
-
Panel 4: César E. Chávez National Monument at a Crossroads: Preservation, Community, and America 250
-
Panel 5: We Are Here: A National Movement for Latinx Heritage
-
Panel 6: Self-Determined Communities: Care, Identity, and Power
-
Breakout Session 3: Aquí Estamos, Así Hablamos: Arts-Based Approaches to Heritage Spanish and Latinx Language Justice
-
Panel 7: Preservation as Power: From Practice to Action
-
Breakout Session 4: Blueprints of Belonging: Latinx Architecture and Cultural Stewardship
-
Culture & Comunidad Fair, Silent Auction, and Scholar Presentations
-
What participants gain
Congreso is built for action. Attendees leave with tools, mentorship, and relationships that strengthen their work at home.
We focus on:
-
Protecting sites, stories, and cultural memory
-
Developing local leadership
-
Building skills for preservation advocacy
-
Collaborative storytelling and narrative work
-
Understanding displacement, policy, and community planning
-
Intergenerational mentorship
-
Movement wellness and restoration
Scholarships Available
Congreso Scholarships support students and local community advocates to attend this national convening. Support will be given to those from historically excluded backgrounds to help amplify underrepresented voices in the heritage field. Learn more and apply for a scholarship.
Core Components
Workshops for Action
Grant writing, landmarking, oral history, zoning and planning, legal advocacy, community engagement.
Neighborhood Sessions
.jpg)
Site-based dialogues, and mobile skill labs across Chicago.
Leadership Tracks
Dedicated spaces for youth, emerging professionals, and community stewards
Storytelling and Collective Memory
Panels, presentations, and collaborative sessions rooted in the 2026 theme.
Healing and Restoration
Grounding cultural practices and wellness spaces for those doing this work every day.
LOCAL HOST & PARTNER
Founded in 1971, Landmarks Illinois is the state's leading nonprofit preservation organization and a trusted advocate for protecting, restoring, and reimagining historic places across Illinois. Through advocacy, education, and community partnerships, they help ensure that historic places continue to serve the people who live, work, and gather in them.
Havana Water Tower, Havana, Illinois Photography: Randy von Liski
As a valued partner of Congreso 2026, Landmarks Illinois has been helping connect us with local preservation leaders, strengthen relationships across Chicago's preservation community, and support our efforts to bring together practitioners, advocates, and storytellers from across the country.
We are grateful for their partnership and commitment to ensuring that historic places continue to serve the people and communities that shape them.
SPEAKERS
María Hinojosa is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, author, educator, and founder of Futuro Media who has helped reshape American journalism for nearly four decades. She was the first Latina hired by NPR, the force behind Latino USA and award-winning reporting across radio, television, podcasts, and print, she has brought overlooked stories and communities into the national conversation. Her work centers on identity, immigration, culture, democracy, and belonging, ensuring stories too often left out are seen, heard, and remembered.
María Hinojosa
Julissa Arce is a bestselling author, speaker, producer, and public thinker whose work explores immigration, identity, assimilation, and belonging. Through acclaimed books such as My (Underground) American Dream, Someone Like Me, and You Sound Like a White Girl, she has become a leading national voice on race, culture, and the meaning of the American Dream. An ex-Wall Street executive, Julissa was undocumented for a decade and also co-founded the Ascend Educational Fund to support immigrant students.
Julissa Arce
Daniel Suárez made history in 2022 as the first Mexican-born driver to win a NASCAR Cup Series race, and in 2026 he earned his latest Cup victory with a Coca-Cola 600 win at Charlotte. Born in Monterrey, Suárez’ story speaks to visibility, perseverance, identity, and what it means for Latinx communities to see themselves in spaces where they have historically been underrepresented. His presence at the highest level of NASCAR is helping to expand what younger generations can imagine for themselves and for their communities.
Daniel Suárez
As former Executive and Co-Head of Cultural Business Strategy at Creative Artists Agency (CAA), Ruben worked with artists including Becky G, America Ferrera, Anthony Ramos, Ricky Martin, and Eugenio Derbez while advancing conversations about representation, cultural power, and Latinx visibility in spaces that often excluded those communities. He is also the founder of MOSAICO and creator of La Cena, a leading gathering space for Latinx leaders in entertainment, media, sports, and culture that grew from a dinner series into a national network of artists, executives, athletes, and changemakers.
