[3][4] MANA publicizes and addresses Latina perspectives and needs through Social movements, Leadership education, and Advocacy within federal, state, and local governments.

[5] The Mexican-American Women's National Association was formed in 1974 by Blandina Cardenas Ramírez, Gloria Hernandez, Bettie Baca, and Sharleen Maldonado over a series of weekend brunches in Washington, D.C.[2][6] Bettie Baca was the first chair women of the group when it started in 1974.

From 15 to 17 September 1975, MANA held its first national conference- the first major conference in the United States by and for Mexican-American women.

[citation needed] In 1978, MANA began establishing local chapters to reach women who felt distanced from the national community.

[8] MANA's political advocacy included campaigning for accurate inclusion in the United States Census, which underrepresented the Mexican American population; lobbying for the Equal Rights Amendment and Affirmative action in the United States; pushing for the renewal of Voting Rights Act of 1965, and campaigning for Chicana representation as officials in all areas of the government.

In 1989, as the Mexican-American Women's National Association celebrated its fifteenth anniversary, MANA's leaders and activists began discussing the organization's original mission statement and name.

Older activists disagreed with the suggestion, fearing that the voices, experiences, and contributions from the organization's first fifteen years would be discounted.

They claimed that this inclusion would combine all Latina ethnicities and erase Mexican American women's unique community, which was MANA's original purpose.

[2] "MANA" was originally an acronym for the Mexican American Women's National Association that was frequently used to refer to the organization.

[2] Furthermore, MANA's collaborations, annual conferences, and testimonies were well known during their early years, and continue to form the base of their work today.

MANA currently continues holding Las Primeras, an annual conference started in 1990, and runs two educational initiatives, Hermanitas and AvonZamos.

[citation needed] Members work as chief executive officers; elected officials; teachers; staff or founders of nonprofit organizations; health professionals; government workers; artists; lawyers; paralegals; human services and social work professionals; scientists; and other professions.