Dear Friends, 

As I celebrate my 13th anniversary leading CLUES, I believe this is the ideal time to announce my retirement as President and CEO of Comunidades Latinas Unidas En Servicio (CLUES) at the end of 2025. 

In 2026, CLUES will celebrate its 45th anniversary with the right focus, capacity, and platform from which to soar into the next decade (2035) when Latinos in Minnesota are expected to surpass the 550,000-population threshold.  

Your support and commitment to our mission have helped us thrive through a period of bold growth, increased impact, and culturally rooted innovation. We have accomplished a great deal over the past 13 years by engaging community voices and securing private/public partnerships. These efforts allow us to create spaces where our community can connect, access the support they need, and thrive, including: 

• Raised $20.5M in capital investments, doubling our St. Paul Headquarters, purchased our new Family Wellness & Childcare Hub in Saint Paul, and raised funds to seed our future Minneapolis home. 

• Expanded services to the West Metro, Willmar, and Austin, reaching more Latino and immigrant families.

• Launched innovative wellness and family-centered services, English-language and technology access, youth programs, cultural arts programming, and Latino artist support. 

• Invested over $10M to build workforce and skills-building programs that resulted in good jobs and higher wages for our hard-working adults and career ladder opportunities for Latino youth.  

• Supported thousands during the COVID-19 pandemic with emergency-ready programs that addressed homelessness and expanded equitable access to healthy food, housing, and income security. 

• Achieved certification as a Community Behavioral Health Clinic, ensuring culturally specific diverse care statewide. 

And we continue to innovate – our Childcare Business Incubator, designed to advance childcare services and entrepreneurship for Latinas, is opening this September in our new Family Wellness Building on the East Side of Saint Paul.  

These accomplishments were made possible thanks to your support and dedication to our organization and community. I am deeply grateful for your unwavering commitment to our mission and to my leadership. 

Our Board of Directors initiated a search and aims to announce a new leader by the end of the year. I will help ensure a smooth transition and handoff to a new leader.  

The foundation we’ve built is strong, our team is ready, and our community is resilient. The next decade will bring new challenges and opportunities, and I am confident CLUES is prepared to meet them. 

It has been the greatest honor of my career to serve our community with you. 

Warmly, 

Ruby Azurdia-Lee
CLUES President & CEO