About escala

ESCALA is the premier professional development organization for HSIs (Hispanic-Serving Institutions), a group of colleges and universities that serve two-thirds of all Latinx students in the United States.

What We Do

Our programs aim to dismantle systemic racism in higher education for Latinx people by supporting HSI practitioners in changing the educational environments within Hispanic Serving Institutions. We do this to restore justice to Latinx people who have been historically marginalized and de-centered in U.S. educational institutions and have the aspirational capital and ventajas to succeed in environments that validate and honor their cultural as well as academic selves.

ESCALA is a trailblazer in improving the well-being of Latinx students and making Latinx student success in higher education the new status quo. 

Our Commitment to Developing and Featuring PRACTITIONERS!

We are proud of our capacity-building strategy and commitment to hire our alumni back to teach our programs. Each year, 40% of our budget goes to training and then paying working practitioners to teach our programs and courses and develop curriculum. Facilitator-alumni often draw upon their own experiences in their HSIs to demonstrate that what our programs teach improves Latinx student success! 

Each year, 40% of our budget goes to training and then paying working practitioners to teach our programs and courses and develop curriculum. We specifically ensure our facilitator teams are majority Latinx and practitioners of color, and represent all geographic regions of HSIs. By working with ESCALA but remaining in their HSIs, our ESCALA facilitators become both national and local equity and antiracist educator-leaders.