NALEO 44TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE

The Border Is the Blueprint. Leadership Starts Here

The nation’s largest network of Latino elected and appointed officials meets where the issues shaping American governance are already playing out — and where every dollar you spend getting here goes further.

Registration opens earlier than ever this year — lock in the best price.

State and local officials are governing through the direct, daily consequences of the US–Mexico relationship: affordability, shifting tariffs, strained water systems, intensified border security operations, and an immigration system awaiting reform. These pressures show up as budget lines, constituent calls, and public safety decisions on city councils, school boards, county commissions, and state legislatures nationwide — whether your community sits on the border or a thousand miles from it. El Paso is where a Latino-led city is already working  through these questions, with answers you can bring home to yours.

Six Themes. One Border Agenda. Every Level of Government’s Stake.

Across every theme, the goal is the same: what policymakers need to know, decide, oversee, and act on — the foundation of thriving, resilient communities, from economic opportunity to public trust.

01

Affordability, Budgets, & Governing Smarter

Property tax caps, shrinking revenue, and fiscal shortfalls hitting cities, counties, and states nationwide — and the AI tools, housing strategies, and entrepreneurship support helping leaders do more with less.

02

Binational Trade & the Border Economy

Tariffs, supply chains, and cross-border commerce shaping budget lines and policy on both sides of the border.

03

Immigration & Public Safety

Policy awaiting reform and intensified enforcement operations, and what  they mean for public safety decisions at every level of government.

04

Water & Shared Infrastructure

Strained, shared systems, and the partnerships already managing them as a model for other cross-border challenges.

05

Education Governance in a Binational Context

How trade, immigration, and emerging technology shape enrollment,  workforce pathways, and student opportunity — from school boards to  state education policy.

06

Civic Trust & Community Engagement

Transparent, responsive governance, modeled on El Paso’s own planning process, that earns public confidence during fiscal and political strain.

What You Get

Binational access

Direct engagement with US and Mexican officials, agency leaders, and  cross-border partners working the same issues from both sides of the  line.

Peers from every level and party

Officials from diverse geographic regions at other levels of office —  federal, state, and local — working the same issues from their own areas of influence, in the room and ready to compare notes.

A network that delivers

NALEO’s Annual Conference typically draws 1,000+ registrants — elected and appointed officials, partners, and advocates — into the largest Latino policy network in the country.

Cultura y Orgullo

This Conference doesn’t stop at the sessions. An opening event kicks things off and a closing event sends you home — built-in time to build the relationships that don’t happen in a session room. Cultura y Orgullo returns and grows this year with celebrity and influencer appearances, live entertainment, and a market spotlighting local Latino-owned art,  goods, and makers from the region — the same civic pride that drives  good governance. Look for optional pre-Conference border tours, plus  more to come as we get closer to June.

Support Latino Civic Leadership

Partnership opportunities for the 44th NALEO Annual Conference are now available! Stand with the nation’s premier Latino civic leadership organization and connect with elected officials, policy leaders, and community advocates from across the country. For more information, contact development@naleo.org.