El Puente was established in 1982 in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York, as a response to youth violence in the community. It was founded by Luis Garden Acosta, who called together a consortium of community, school, and church leaders. El Puente is Spanish for "the bridge," symbolizing the programs commitment to helping young people and their families make connections to build "a bridge from hope to social action" (New York Times). The "movement," as El Puente refers to itself, addresses a young person's interaction with his or her family, school, and community. El Puente is rooted in the belief that coalitions strengthen organizations and has worked with many local and national groups.

El Puente's membership at the Williamsburg site totals 363 leadership members, with 4,410 community members. At Bushwick, there are 209 leadership members and 765 community members. The number of persons affected by El Puente has been estimated by the chief executive officer to be 10,000 yearly.

El Puente offers health services, education, job training, internships, community service programs, integrated performing and visual arts, and especially diverse opportunities to coalesce with others for development, democratic action, healing, and human rights. Participation in El Puente's activities stresses membership in the organization at large. Membership does not require a fee; it does however, require that members give a day for community service/action and sign a contract to strive for "excellence in body, mind, spirit, and community." El Puente is open from 7:00 a.m. until 10:00 p.m., six days a week. On Sundays, it is open for ad hoc participation.

El Puente is guided by a board of directors with seven members, all of whom have been raised or live in the community. It responds to the changing needs of the community. El Puente was awarded the New York State Governor's "Decade of the Child Award" for leading the state in community-based vaccination campaigns. It facilitated church-based leadership in promoting unprecedented electoral participation rooted in the Voting Rights Act. It leads the Latino environmental movement in Brooklyn and in so doing has forged a unique partnership with the members of the Hassidic, white ethnic, and African American communities. First to be funded by the New York State Department of Health to use the arts in AIDS education, El Puente is known for its human rights emphasis, particularly in its campaign against school segregation, school and street violence, and police brutality. Within the context of El Puente, the El Puente Academy for Peace and Justice was established in 1993 as one of the New York City Public Schools' New Visions Schools. The El Puente Academy is fully integrated in the El Puente organization. Its founder and director, Frances Lucerna, is also the associate executive director of El Puente.

There are several other "El Puente-like" communities, located in Chelsea and Revere, Massachusetts, and in Washington Heights, Bushwick, and Soundview, New York. These organizations are each (with the exception of the Bushwick site organization, which is part of the Williamsburg El Puente) community-initiated and managed. The staff from El Puente offer technical support to these organizations and gain a mutual support network based on El Puente's underlying principles.