The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, steward of the Oscars, will release its annual list of new members later this month.

This normally wouldn't raise too many eyebrows, given that the predominately Caucasian committee - 94 percent are white - inertly dives into Hollywood's pool of diversity. Then every 2016 Oscars lead and supporting actor nomination went to a white actor, just like they did a year earlier.

Racial tension cultivated in #OscarSoWhite, the social media-driven controversy that drew stern commitments from the academy, along with a pledge from President Cheryl Boone Isaac vowed to double women and minorities in the next four years.

"The Academy is going to lead and not wait for the industry to catch up," Boone Isaacs said in a press release. "These new measures regarding governance and voting will have an immediate impact and begin the process of significantly changing our membership composition."

Nearly a dozen members were welcomed into the AMPAS in March, including Latino "Mozart in the Jungle" actor Gael García Bernal and writer Gregory Nava. A month earlier, Mexico City-born Alejandro González Iñárritu won his second consecutive Best Director Oscar for "The Revenant," becoming just the second Latino ever behind "Gravity" director Alfonso Cuarón to do so. Iñárritu previously won it for "Birdman."

Latino Moviegoers Impact Hollywood

The academy's mea culpa brought about swift yet temporary change.

Last June, when the roots of the #OscarSoWhite movement were already sewn, a record 322 actors, directors, editors, and writers - among other filmmakers - were elected Oscar voters. Most are white, as are some 6,200 voting members across 17 branches.

Even with the inclusion of names like Bernal and Nava, minorities - specifically Latinos - have an incremental sway.

The diversity discussion is not exclusive to blacks and Asians. A 2015 theatrical statistic summary from the Motion Picture Association of America found Latinos account for about one-quarter of U.S. moviegoers. Caucasians make up the bulk of the population, but they represented a smaller share of ticket sales from previous years.

Latinos, despite making up just 17 percent of the country's census, purchase more movie tickets than any other ethnic group.

Hispanic actors, though, are under-cast and misrepresented. One look at ad hoc actor Noel Gugliemi's IMDB page will find character names like "Hector," "cholo," and "flaco." Only now is Gugliemi receiving roles that don't revert to a Latino stereotype.

A New Set of Hispanic Academy Members

Hispanics make up less than two percent of academy membership. To exclude prospective Latino members would be to ignore the shifting paradigm.

Why not consider Spanish Hollywood this time around. Guatemalan Oscar Isaacs is coming off the massive success of "Star Wars: The Force Awakens." Actress America Ferrara catapulted her Emmy and Golden Globe-winning "Ugly Betty" role into a steady film career. Mexican writer/director Jonás Cuarón could be nominated, as could Latina film editor Carla Gutierrez.

National Hispanic Media Coalition CEO Alex Nogales hasn't made an impact in front or behind a camera, and he is not an academy member, but his work advocating Latinos paved the way for so many that have over the last 20-plus years.

"Hollywood is leaving a lot of money on the table, especially the film industry, by not including not only Latinos, but other people of color as well," Nogales told the L.A. Times. "At some point they have to wake up and take a stand. The future are people of color."

This month, the academy will reveal a new list of candidates. Enduring change takes time. Who they select this time around will leave an indelible mark going forward.