Latinos across much of the US have long been undercounted in the census, mischaracterized, misunderstood (PDF) or excluded (PDF) from research. This lack of accurate information has real consequences for how public policies are shaped and how resources are allocated. 

The same is true in Georgia, a state more than 1 million Latinos call home. They make up 11 percent of the state’s population, yet many of the structural and day-to-day challenges they navigate remain poorly understood.

Shifting federal and state policies have compounded these challenges, with heightened immigration enforcement threats affecting immigrants and their broader communities. Nationally, there has been a significant expansion of enforcement, with recent rising public concern following aggressive enforcement efforts in cities and fatal shootings of protestors in Minneapolis. In Georgia, where state policy mandates cooperation with federal immigration enforcement and there are several major detention centers, the number of immigration arrests has been among the highest in the US, including the largest worksite raid ever conducted.

These shifts have created an environment of uncertainty and fear for Latino families—many of whom are US citizens or live in mixed-status households. This includes the three in five Latinos in Georgia who are US citizens. And they influence whether people feel safe seeking services, accessing supports, or participating in civic life.

The State of the Latino Community in Georgia, a digital report created by Neighborhood Nexus, Latino Community Fund Georgia, and Ser Familia, captures these experiences and more by combining quantitative data and firsthand community perspectives. It provides advocates, policymakers, and service providers with a shared evidence base and is now informing the work of the Georgia Latinx Alliance, a coalition of more than 200 leaders using these findings to guide strategies that support community well-being. We share three lessons from Georgia’s experience for other communities to help address the barriers preventing all residents from thriving.

1. Elevate community voices
   
   Because Latino communities are often undercounted or misrepresented in traditional datasets, the qualitative insights of the report filled in what numbers alone couldn’t capture. Residents described responsibilities and barriers that rarely show up in administrative data—navigating unfamiliar school systems, working multiple jobs with fluctuating hours, avoiding medical care because of cost or fear, or children translating for parents. These day-to-day realities shape the outcomes reflected in statewide indicators but are often invisible to leaders in institutions designing policy and programs.
   
   Pairing these stories with local data helps clarify why certain patterns appear. High labor force participation alongside persistent poverty reflects structural issues like wage stagnation, occupational segregation, and limited access to supportive services. Educational disparities become clearer when families describe language barriers, school resource constraints, or immigration-related fears that affect engagement. In the State of the Latino Community in Georgia, storytelling is not decoration—it is a necessary analytic tool that helps interpret the data and connect it to real community conditions.
   
   Building the report through genuine partnership between Latino Community Fund Georgia, Neighborhood Nexus, and Ser Familia ensured high-quality analysis and that the findings reflected community realities and priorities identified through listening sessions and individual interviews. Community data organizations like Neighborhood Nexus, and others in the National Neighborhood Indicators Partnership, are a great resource to understand your community’s context through data.
2. Shift narratives with data
   
   Both the quantitative and  qualitative findings also surface the diversity within Georgia’s Latino population and the common threads that connect people across geography and heritage. Communities represented in the report reflect a wide range of Latin American backgrounds—nearly half are Mexican, and Venezuelan, Nicaraguan, and Bolivian residents are among the fastest-growing groups. Their distinct histories, cultures, and migration experiences shape not only individual identities but also a shared sense of community and collective responsibility. Yet these highlighted realities in the report are often overshadowed by narrow narratives that reduce Latino communities to immigration status or perceived deficits, contributing to policy decisions that overlook strengths and reinforce inequities.
   
   In contrast, the stories highlighted familiar American values: commitment to family and safety, investment in children’s futures, and the preservation of cultural knowledge and connection to place. As a result, the report operates as both a data resource and a narrative bridge—connecting perception with community experience to ground policy conversations.
3. Turn information into action
   
   Neighborhood Nexus designed the report with story-driven data visualization to ensure it could be used easily by policymakers, service providers, and community members. As a result, the report is already shaping how organizations across Georgia engage with Latino communities. In metropolitan Atlanta, Mercy Care Atlanta, a federally qualified health center, is using it to guide program design for more than 17,000 patients in the Chamblee area to bring a high-quality, compassionate care approach that is bilingual, responsive, and culturally competent.  Statewide, the Georgia Latinx Alliance is drawing on the data to coordinate advocacy around education access, leadership development, and community safety—using the report as a shared reference point across sectors.
   
   Ser Familia, which offers family and mental health supports, noted that the data confirmed trends they were seeing firsthand: rising youth mental health needs, persistent educational barriers, and limited uptake of safety net programs. “Having the data made those realities visible—and actionable—to funders and decisionmakers,” said CEO Belisa Urbina. This alignment between community experience and quantitative data strengthens the case for targeted investments and policy change.

Ultimately, the State of the Latino Community in Georgia illustrates why combining quantitative data with community voice is essential for shaping responsive and inclusive policy. As Gigi Pedraza of Latino Community Fund Georgia reflected, “This report highlights our contributions, opportunities, and challenges. It also opens the door for us to collectively uplift and embrace our diversity—and to celebrate that we are here, and that we have always been here.”