The California Latino Power Map is a free, interactive online mapping and data tool created by the Latino Community Foundation (LCF) and Measure of America, a nonpartisan research and advocacy initiative of the Social Science Research Council.

The California Latino Power Map showcases the most comprehensive list of Latino-led nonprofits in California and presents the challenges and opportunities communities face through a wide range of well-being indicators. The tool helps users visualize where Latino nonprofits are located alongside contextual information about their surrounding communities. This guide is intended to help users navigate the California Latino Power Map.

Tip: The California Latino Power Map works best in full screen on a computer, but a simplified version is also accessible on mobile devices.

Watch this video overview to see the map in action!

The California Latino Power Map features 500 Latino nonprofits. Nonprofits are represented by dots, with different colors representing different categories. The list of nonprofits was collected and categorized by LCF, and can be downloaded here.

To select a nonprofit, there are two options:

• Navigate the map. Move through the map to find nonprofits in your geographic area and nonprofit category of interest. The Latino Nonprofits dropdown menu can be used to determine which categories of nonprofits are displayed on the map.
• Search by nonprofit name. The search box can be used to find particular indicators, places, or nonprofits. Selecting the nonprofit using the search box will automatically pan the map to the geographic location of the nonprofit and add the corresponding nonprofit category to the map, if it was not already selected.

Whether you select the nonprofit by clicking a dot on the map or a search result, doing so will bring up a nonprofit information box, which includes the organization name, website, phone number, and mission statement, and the Latino population overview box will automatically display the data for the Public Use Microdata Area (PUMA) and County that the nonprofit is located within, allowing for an easy understanding of the demographics of the area served by the selected nonprofit.

The map features nearly 50 well-being indicators for the Latino population in the state's 265 PUMAs. PUMAs are collections of counties or census tracts within counties. They are defined by the US Census Bureau and have populations of at least 100,000 people.

There are two ways to select an indicator:

• "Select an Indicator" dropdown menu. Click through the list of indicators, which are grouped into six categories: Civic Engagement, Demographics, Education, Health, Housing, and Work, Wealth & Poverty.
• Use the search box to find what you are looking for.

Once you have chosen an indicator, the map and the bar chart on the left will display the distribution of values across geographies for the chosen indicator. The data represent the Latino population, not the general population. The bar chart also displays a bubble labelled "CA Latinos" which provides the average value for all California Latinos.

Tip: The darker the color on the map, the higher the value of the chosen indicator. Uncolored areas either have no data or unreliable data for the chosen indicator.

To view the value for a particular geographic area, there are four options:

• Click anywhere on the map. Your selection will turn blue on the map, and a blue tag will appear on the bar chart with the associated value of the indicator.
• Click anywhere on the bar chart. The value of the indicator for the bar you have selected will appear in blue and the PUMA that corresponds to that bar will also be blue.
• Search for a location by PUMA name. Use the search box to find a specific location by PUMA name; the map will pan to this area.
• Click a nonprofit in a different geographic area. This will change the selected geographic area to the location of the nonprofit.

Hovering over different bars on the bar chart will display the value in a gray tag on the chart, and will highlight the corresponding geography with gray fill on the map. This process also works in reverse; hovering over geographies on the map will display their value in a gray tag on the chart.

The bar chart is useful for:

• Visualizing the overall distribution of an indicator.
• Exploring the full range of values for an indicator by putting your cursor over the bars.
• Comparing the values of two different areas; one selected in blue and one in gray.
• Finding and navigating to the highest and lowest geographies for a certain indicator.

To find the source of an indicator click on the click on the in the top right of the bar chart box. Doing so will tell you where the data comes from and any important clarifications or caveats. Click on Get Data to download the data.

Latino Population Overview Box

Whether you are viewing nonprofits or exploring indicators, this box displays an overview of the Latino population for both the chosen PUMA, filled with blue on the map, and the county, outlined in blue on the map. The Latino population overview box always displays general information related to the chosen geography in blue and does not change when you hover over other areas or switch indicators.

The Latino population overview box includes:

• A chart displaying the heritage of Latino residents within the chosen PUMA.
• Statistics specific to the Latino population for both the selected PUMA and the county.

Tip: Minimize this box using the arrow at the bottom of the box.

Download, Ways to Use, and Share

The DOWNLOAD button allows you to download both the indicator data and the list of nonprofits as Excel spreadsheets immediately after completing a short form.

The WAYS TO USE button has examples of how you might use the tool in your work.

The SHARE button offers the option to create a bit.ly link to your specific view or share on Facebook or Twitter. These links will display the same indicator, nonprofits, and selected geography that you currently have on your screen. The Share menu option also provides information on how to print a view.

Mobile Use

The mobile site is geared toward exploring the nonprofits. It contains some key differences from the desktop site:

• Only one indicator is displayed on the map, Latinos as a percent of the total population.
• There is a color legend at the bottom of the screen to explain the range and variation of color on the map.
• There is no bar chart or Latino population overview box.

The color legend along the bottom of the screen has five segments to match the five colors that appear on the map. The number on each segment represents the cutoff value for that segment. For example, the values begin at 5 and end at 97, and the color sections represent 5-18 percent, 19-30 percent, etc.

Use your fingers to zoom to different geographic areas or use the search box to locate an area by PUMA name. The map will then pan to that area.

Explore the nonprofits in the same way as on the desktop version. Choose a nonprofit by clicking on a dot or by using the search box found in the menu in the upper right corner. Once selected, the nonprofit information box will appear on the screen.

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