United Neighborhood Organization

The United Neighborhood Organization (UNO) is a non-profit organization in Chicago, Illinois. UNO's mission is to lead the transformation of the Hispanic community toward an educated, powerful and prosperous citizenry by engaging and challenging it to redefine its potential and its legacy in metropolitan Chicago and The United States of America.

In 1984, UNO began as a grassroots effort between community groups and churches to fulfill the developmental needs of the Hispanic community in Chicago. UNO believes in the potential to transform entire neighborhoods therefore giving families a better chance at achieving the American dream. Over the past 30 years, UNO has focused on three principles: improving education, promoting citizenship and cultivating leaders, all to ensure the economic advancement for generations of Hispanics. In 1998, UNO founded the UNO Charter School Network (UCSN), a network of 16 charter schools (13 elementary schools and 3 high schools, with over 8,000 students. Additionally, UNO provides two professional development programs Metropolitan Leadership Institute (MLI) and the Corporate Leadership Institute (CLI) to galvanize action among working Hispanic professionals interested in leadership roles in the public, private, and corporate sectors.

In later years, UNO expanded its scope of services to promote health and wellness in the community through a 5k race known as the Carrera de los Muertos/Race of the Dead which in 2014 had over 5,700 participants. UNO also expanded to provide jobs to members of the community through the UNO Janitorial and Maintenance Service (UNO JaMS) which is a social enterprise offering full maintenance and cleaning services.

The UNO Charter School Network (UCSN) was founded in 1998 when UNO recognized the need to bolster public education in Chicago as a way to effect positive change in predominantly Hispanic communities. The first school, Octavio Paz Elementary was in Pilsen, Chicago and has since grown to 13 K-8 elementary schools and 3 high schools. UCSN's vision is to develop a diverse group of intellectually curious and passionate civic leaders who act with integrity and who compete and excel, locally, nationally, and globally.

State funding for the organization was cut off in April 2013 by Illinois governor Pat Quinn's administration after a possible conflict in interest by a high-ranking UNO executive, but was restored six weeks later after the organization pledged to avoid future conflicts of interest. In July 2015, "the Chicago City Council's Latino Caucus called for the resignation of Richard Rodriguez, a former Daley administration official who oversees the schools." noting that Richard Rodriguez is the lone remaining member of the original UNO board, which was forced to split after being investigated by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Cook County State's Attorney's Office

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