Contributed by Director Charles Rob Venator-Santiago
The UConn Puerto Rican Studies Initiative (UConnPRSI) was launched in the fall of 2022. Initially funded by the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), it is now supported by the Connecticut General Assembly’s Puerto Rican and Latino Legislative Caucus. We are pleased to announce that we have secured funding for the next two years, from 2025 to 2027.
On 4 October 2025, we co-sponsored the second statewide 2nd annual Charting our Path: The Connecticut Latino Policy Agenda Summit at the Legislative Office Building in Hartford, CT. The goal of this year’s summit was to anticipate the potential impact of federal funding cuts on Latinos in the state of Connecticut. Among the topics discussed in this forum were funding cuts for Medicaid, affordable housing, food insecurity, and immigration challenges in Connecticut. Upwards of 400 persons attended our meeting.
We are also happy to announce that the UConnPRSI is working with the CT Puerto Rican and Latino Legislative Caucus to sponsor the second Puerto Rico|Puerto Ricans in Connecticut annual public policy summit. This two-day conference will address various dimensions of Puerto Rican’s economic insecurity. Day one will provide an introduction to the Puerto Rican economy, and day two will focus on the economic insecurity of Puerto Ricans in Connecticut. The summit will be held at the Capitol (Friday, March 20, 2026) and the Legislative Office Building (Saturday, March 21, 2026) in Hartford, CT.
