Photo © Larry Servin
By Raye Mocioiu
Eva Longoria has long known the power of visibility. As one of Hollywood’s most prominent Latina figures, she’s no stranger to the way a platform can inspire change. But outside of her storied career as an award-winning actress, producer, and director, Longoria’s personal mission focuses on empowerment and giving back—something she knew she was always destined to do, with or without the fame.
“I come from a very philanthropic family,” the actress told Town & Country. ““I remember that ‘volunteer’ was a big word in our family. I thought it was an actual job—like, ‘when I grow up, I want to be a volunteer!’”
Being introduced to the importance of community support at such a young age had an incredible impact on Longoria, especially when it came to understanding how that support directly impacted her own family.
“I have a sister who has special needs, and my mom was a special education teacher, so we always lived with the idea of giving back because we always needed those community resources,” she shared. “To me, it was important to continue that and give back.”
Power with Purpose
There’s no wrong way to give back, but it takes the right combination of determination, compassion, and critical understanding to make the kind of difference that lasts. For Longoria, that was the driving force—not simply lending her name to a cause that felt right but putting her energy toward studying it, living it, and understanding what needed to be built.
When Desperate Housewives took off, that’s precisely what she did, using her platform to redirect her newfound attention to a cause she understood on a deep level: economic empowerment for the Latinx community.
“My foundation began when I was getting my master’s degree in Chicano studies. I did my thesis on the lack of Latinas in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) fields,” Longoria explained.
She discovered that the barriers to success for Latinas went far beyond one field—from education and entrepreneurship to civic engagement and cultural influence, Latinas are underrepresented and underestimated.
In a 2019 interview with Forbes, Longoria explained that while Latinas make up 18 percent of the population, they only fill one percent of tech jobs.
“Latinos will be a huge part of the future workforce in the U.S,” she said. “Latinas need to be empowered and ready for those future jobs, whether it’s computer engineering or coding, there’s so much opportunity and not enough talent. My thought process was, well, let’s get Latinas prepared for that future.”
With that thinking in mind, she launched the Eva Longoria Foundation, dedicated to empowering the Latina community through innovative solutions that accelerate economic opportunity, civic participation, and cultural influence. But like everything Longoria does, the foundation’s method is holistic and sustainable. Providing opportunities is just one piece of the puzzle—ensuring that Latinas are ready to take them on puts everything into place.
“We can’t just hand people opportunity—we have to prepare them to seize it,” said Christy Haubegger, longtime advocate for Latina empowerment, co-founder of Poderistas, and a key collaborator of the foundation. “The Eva Longoria Foundation equips women with the skills, mentorship, and support networks to not only dream big—but achieve big.”
The Domino Effect
“To create sustainable change, you have to be laser-focused on the result you want,” Longoria told Forbes. “I commissioned a study from UCLA and found the best poverty interventions were educational programs and parent engagement. One engaged parent, let alone two, increases the likelihood of high school graduation and then college.”
The best path to a lasting solution, she figured, was to attack the problem at the root, supporting these underserved communities by engaging parents to understand how powerful education can be—for them, their children, and their community. In partnership with Parent Institute for Quality Education (PIQE), they created a program that planted the seed and watched how the community made it take root.
“One mom would take a class and then go home and tell her neighbors, her sister, her friends. Now, those other women are impacted and didn’t even take the class,” Longoria continued. “Suddenly, we’ve affected 10 families as opposed to one. The ability to scale and the ability to measure results are important.”
Creating Opportunity
The path to entrepreneurship may start at home, but it certainly doesn’t end there. According to one report from Stanford, Latino-owned businesses are the fastest-growing segment of the U.S. business population. However, they often lack access to the capital and networks that could accelerate their growth. By some estimates, only two percent of venture capital goes to Latino-owned businesses. So why is access to capital and career-accelerating networks so scarce?
“Women, in general, have more barriers in the entrepreneurial space,” Longoria explained. “Venture capital firms have a gender bias. The process for getting bank loans is biased. Unconscious bias exists. Then, when you add intersectionality—a woman and Latina—that bias affects you even more. The light being shed on that is important. At the same time, we need to better prepare women to be entrepreneurs. Sometimes, it’s as simple as learning how to write a business plan or teaching critical bookkeeping skills. That exposure changes their perspective. Access is part of it, but so is preparation. Successful entrepreneurialism is about preparation.”
As an entrepreneur herself, Longoria’s perspective here was critical.
“When I started researching, I found Latinas start small businesses at six times the national average. There are more Latinas starting small businesses than any other group in our country, but they don’t have the same access to capital or business training. There is knowledge and funding that they are lacking to achieve their entrepreneurial dreams.”
The Eva Longoria Foundation works to address these obstacles in several ways, including by supporting networks and organizations that drive similar missions forward. MLT.org, for example, focuses on advancing economic mobility for all, especially for those lacking access to career-accelerating resources, which is true for many Latinas. MLT has many programs focused on achieving this goal, but its college-to-career program is transformative. An impressive 90 percent of MLT’s fellows come from low or moderate-income families, yet 90 percent of these fellows go on to secure full-time job offers with an average starting salary of $90,000+. That kind of impact goes a long way, changing the lives of young Latinas and crafting the building blocks for sustained success.
Changing the Script
“You can’t be what you can’t see,” Longoria said. “Representation changes culture. It changes what we believe is possible—for ourselves and for each other.”
What we see in the media and the entertainment we consume can change how we view ourselves and our potential. As an outspoken advocate for Latinx representation in all fields, it’s no surprise that Longoria’s passion for representation extends to the very industry where she got her start.
Her own career is proof of how impactful it can be to see yourself reflected on-screen, and her foundation is made up of women who have achieved and inspired similar realizations—like Haubegger, who created Latina magazine to give young women a reflection of their own excellence. Haubegger recalled meeting a Latina reporter who had told her that the magazine sparked her interest and her ambition to work in journalism.
“She was probably twelve at the time Latina came out, and it just kind of shocked me,” Haubegger recalled. “It made me very grateful for the fact that while I’ve never seen myself as some kind of hero, Latinas are slowly gaining the presence to be that person for someone they’ve never met.”
In the entertainment sphere, the foundation makes those moments possible through programs like Rideback Rise, which helps mid-career entertainment professionals from underrepresented backgrounds climb the ranks—changing not just who is on screen but who gets to tell the stories.
“Latinas are more than a demographic,” Haubegger said. “We are a force of nature. And it’s time the world recognized that.”
One of the most effective tools for transformation is mentorship—and with community as the throughline for Longoria’s work, mentorship goes hand in hand with network. The foundation focuses on connecting Latinas with role models who reflect their experiences and help redefine what success looks like.
Poderistas, an organization that uses storytelling and convening to motivate Latinas to encourage civic action and participation, is proof of that transformation in action. One of Poderistas’ key programs is the Power Squad, which provides women across the country civic engagement and leadership development tools to cultivate local support and elevate community issues. This past year, of Poderistas’ 17 regional Power Squad leaders, four of them have decided that they want to take their leadership to the next level and run for local office.
Again and again, the foundation proves that with opportunity comes action—and that with the right support, the right leadership, and mentorship that guides, not gives, action is only the beginning.
Driven by Love
While the Eva Longoria Foundation supports Latinas in reaching their full potential, Eva’s Heroes, Longoria’s second foundation, honors another deeply personal mission: enriching the lives of individuals with intellectual disabilities.
“Growing up, I saw how limited the opportunities were for my sister to engage in fun, meaningful experiences with her peers,” Longoria shared. “Eva’s Heroes was created to fill that gap—for her and for so many others like her.”
The organization offers more than 2,300 enriching experiences annually, from community outings and themed dances to sports games, theater performances, and a beloved fashion show called Lights, Camera, Fashion.
“Our staff conducts extensive research to find unique, inclusive experiences across the community,” explained Christiane, Executive Director and former special education teacher. “Whether it’s Broadway shows or Spurs basketball games, we create moments that promote socialization, independence, and joy. These are the same experiences everyone else enjoys—our Heroes deserve no less.”
Christiane brings not only professional expertise but also deep personal commitment to her work. “When creating programs for individuals with special needs, I think it’s most important to foster independence and provide the same opportunities available to others,” she shared. “We want our Heroes to feel connected, included, and inspired by the world around them. Eva’s Heroes provides the opportunity for our Heroes to be included in our community and enriches their lives in a way many have never experienced before.”
The Heart of Community
Longoria has repeatedly emphasized that while her foundation is rooted in the Latina experience, women’s issues are interconnected—and progress for one group often means progress for all.
When Latinas rise, communities rise. When inclusion is prioritized, everyone thrives. And when we invest in the power of one—one student, one business owner, one dreamer—the impact sets the stage for future generations.
To support or learn more about the Eva Longoria Foundation, visit evalongoriafoundation.org
To explore the work of Eva’s Heroes, visit evasheroes.org
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