LLA’s Statement RE Secretary of State Alex Padilla’s appointment to the U.S. Senate
Latino Leadership Alliance’s Statement RE Secretary of State Alex Padilla’s appointment to the U.S. Senate
Tuesday, Dec. 22, 2020
In a year in which communities of color disproportionately shouldered the impacts of this global health pandemic and its economic fallout, it has never been more clear why our voice MUST be at the table. Why our communities MUST be represented.
Today’s appointment is one step in that direction, and we applaud Gov. Gavin Newsom for taking it. Secretary of State Alex Padilla has worked tirelessly to ensure voting access to all Californians. He has the qualifications and experience to be an excellent leader and provide the proper representation for the Latino community and all Californians.
We must, however, not misconstrue the realities that we need and deserve more. Our children cannot emulate that which they do not see. We must look to our LGBTQ+ and BIPOC women for appointments into these newly opened seats – State Secretary and Attorney General – if we are ever to ensure that our leadership at the highest levels truly reflects the residents of this great state.
LLA's 2020 Impact Report
A Message from LLA’s Board Chair:
As we draw a close to 2020 and welcome 2021, the Latino Leadership Alliance (LLA) wanted to share our accomplishments for the year. Whether it was Cohort X pivoting from in-person sessions to virtual sessions and piloting a program for alumni and the incoming Cohort, elections of alumni to school boards or city councils, promotions at companies, or leading local and regional non-profit organizations; our alumni continue to activate in several sectors whether non-profit, government, business, real estate, legal, education and more.
The current pandemic and social, economic and racial turmoil have hit our community extremely hard. As an organization, we will continue to promote that OUR representation matters at every table, big or small. ¡Es tiempo!
We invite you to join us as we continue to move forward and focus on Leadership, Partnerships and Advocacy work and unveil findings from our strategic planning process. Please visit our website at www.latinoleadershipalliance.org for more information including applications for Cohort XI! Please take care of yourselves and your loved ones this holiday season.
In Community,
Lennies M. Gutiérrez
LLA Board Chair
Latino Leadership Alliance Decries Blatantly Racist Campaign Attack Ad By The Silicon Valley Organization
Latino Leadership Alliance Decries Blatantly Racist Campaign Attack Ad By The Silicon Valley Organization
¡Ya Basta!
The Latino Leadership Alliance (LLA) joins other local residents, non-profits and community leaders in condemning the blatantly racist messaging and campaign ad posted by the The Silicon Valley Organization on its website. This is not the first time The SVO has resorted to such base and disgusting tactics. Recently, the SVO PAC distributed doctored images of San José City Councilmembers Sergio Jimenez and Sylvia Arenas to appeal to, and stoke, base racial and cultural stereotypes and fears. While LLA believes the organization’s separation from its President/CEO Matt Mahood is a single necessary and positive step in the right direction, it is also simply not enough.
LLA applauds and supports the quick condemnation of the racist SVO campaign hit piece by our community allies – nonprofit leaders, faith-based organizations, labor, and other community leaders – who immediately demanded accountability. The hard and real work of positive change must get started immediately, and there is much to do. If the SVO is interested in true transformative organizational change and wants to restore its credibility then, for starters, the SVO Board and the SVO staff must reflect the tremendous ethnic and cultural diversity of our beautiful valley and it must reflect and promote the values of the community it purports to serve. The SVO must come up with a plan, with input from affected communities, to implement that change. Until then, LLA is calling upon The SVO to immediately and indefinitely suspend all of its PAC fundraising and activities to give it time to realign its internal controls and processes and implement corrective measures necessary to assure more transparency and integrity in its communications, and to publicly commit to engaging community stakeholders in the Latino and African-American community in helping to direct that process and to using SVO resources more responsibly and appropriately to reflect the values of the diverse community it serves. Enough is enough!
The Latino Leadership Alliance
LLA Special 2020 Election Series
Latino Leadership. What does it look like?
NAME: TERESA CASTELLANOS
LLA COHORT: 4
RACE: San José Unified School District, Trustee Area 1
WHAT DOES LATINO LEADERSHIP LOOK LIKE TO YOU?
Latino leadership looks like a leader who is responsive to community needs; understands that a significant portion of our community is working class; knows how to advocate and advance the diversity of needs and contributions of our community; and knows how to build alliances to improve policies, services, laws and practices.
WHY DID YOU DECIDE TO RUN FOR OFFICE?
I decided to run because I had been an organizer in the immigrant rights movement for 20 years. I could see that my community was good at showing up and telling their stories, but I also saw that we were not seated at the decision making table.
HOW HAS YOUR LLA EXPERIENCE HELPED YOU IN YOUR CAMPAIGN RACE?
It helped me to network and create relationships with the diversity of leadership in our community that is working on a diversity of issues. As a society, we are set up in silos and thus we become specialized in our field, but the truth is that our community faces a diversity of issues and it’s important to have a network of support outside of your field to expand the thinking, opportunities and innovation.
LLA Special 2020 Election Series
Latino Leadership. What does it look like?
NAME: JESUS SALAZAR
LLA COHORT: 10
RACE: Luther Burbank School District, Board of Trustees
WHAT DOES LATINO LEADERSHIP LOOK LIKE TO YOU?
Being a Latino leader means being connected to the community, means placing community and relationships at the center of your work. It means voicing the needs of our community at a table that so often we don’t have a seat at. It means being able to be resilient, being able to persevere and work harder than anyone else. Latino leadership is about using your story and experiences to uplift others, to transfer our skills of navigating these treacherous waters and applying them to restructure the system. Latino leadership is also about being visible and lending a hand to younger Latinos and Latinas, so that together we can make this a safer and more prosperous place to live for our community. Latino leadership is inclusive, innovative and the future of our country.
WHY DID YOU DECIDE TO RUN FOR OFFICE?
The pandemic has exacerbated disparities among black and brown communities and put the systemic inequities into stark relief. Our communities have been hit the hardest and have the least access to resources. Our workers are considered essential but have not been given adequate wages, protections or benefits. Our families don’t have the privilege of working from home or having separate rooms for their children, and yet are being expected to perform the same as always.
This is why I also have decided to run for the Luther Burbank School Board in San Jose — which oversees the elementary school I attended. Having grown up as an immigrant, I know first hand what it feels like to feel hungry, to not know how to do my homework and have no help, to have to worry about paying rent. Currently our families are hurting and struggling financially, emotionally and physically. We are constantly being attacked by the current administration and many live in fear of being separated from their loved ones. On top of all of that pressure our families also have to stress about creating a quiet space for their students to learn, while moms have been forced to turn into teachers. Many of our students suffer from the great digital divide, without access to computers or the internet.
We should meet families where they are and provide the services they need. We could train parents in teaching techniques and help them become confident in helping their children. We can partner with local companies, businesses and nonprofits to help us acquire resources, so that our students have the tools they need to be successful. I believe our students have resiliency in their DNA and given the proper tools they can break ceilings.
Soon I will become the first in my family to earn a master’s degree and I hope to give every student at the Luther Burbank School that same opportunity. I envision a Luther Burbank that not only produces prepared students but fosters an environment of acceptance, growth and innovation. Where all students feel proud of belonging to our community, who know their history and feel confident to take on the challenges of tomorrow.
HOW HAS YOUR LLA EXPERIENCE HELPED YOU IN YOUR CAMPAIGN RACE?
The Latino Leader Alliance experience provided me with a constant bank of inspiration of which I have drawn numerous times during my campaign. It’s truly a robust leadership program that challenges you to become an effective leader! During our program I was able to enhance my leadership skills through workshops, self-reflections and exposure to various leadership strategies.
As a candidate running for elected office, it’s imperative to be able to build relationships and engage with a wide range of stakeholders. At LLA working across sectors was a major component of the program, and this really prepared me to connect with leaders in the private sector, elected offices, nonprofits and education. A lesson that will continue to practice in my career. It’s critical to the success of our community that we begin to work across sectors and build intentional relationships.
Lastly, my cohort members are some of the most incredible individuals I have ever met. They are a true representation of Latino Leadership, leaders who are filled with grit and resilience. My cohort members not only inspired me to run for office but also pursue a master’s degree at UC Berkeley all during a pandemic. Latino Leadership Alliance is the kind of experience that every young Latino leader thinking of running for office should have access to. Thank you Latino Leadership Alliance for enhancing my leadership skills and giving me the confidence to run for public office.
WEBSITE: https://www.jesussalazar.org
LLA Special 2020 Election Series
Latino Leadership. What does it look like?
NAME: IVAN MONTES
LLA COHORT: 8
RACE: Morgan Hill School District, Trustee Area 5
WHAT DOES LATINO LEADERSHIP LOOK LIKE TO YOU?
Part of leading starts with a level of acknowledgement, considerable introspection, and collective work to reassess and revisit what we do, why we do it, in the best interest of whom, and according to whom. It is imperative that we not remain passive or silent and we use our privilege and examine our current practice, philosophy and values.
Latinx leadership, when leadership focuses on the experiences of those who are, have been, or continue to be disenfranchised by institutionalized oppression — is a vehicle to facilitate experiences that lead to disruption of the status quo and our ways of knowing, increased social awareness, and collective social action. We are raising the next generation of leaders and their life options need to be more than just survival, but thriving in a world that humanizes them and their experiences.
WHY DID YOU DECIDE TO RUN FOR OFFICE?
I am running for Morgan Hill Unified School Board Trustee Area 5 because I love Morgan Hill and care deeply about our community and education. My parents came to this country without the ability to speak English and with the determination to attain a better life.
Growing up in Santa Clara County to working-class parents and as a student identified as an English Language Learner I experienced first hand the challenges of navigating our educational system. Many of the challenges my family and I experienced through my educational journey are still endured by students today.
Currently, I have the privilege of serving our community as the proud principal of a public elementary school where I have first-hand experience leading distance learning efforts amid the pandemic. These experiences provide a unique and much needed perspective to serve our community as a MHUSD trustee.
HOW HAS YOUR LLA EXPERIENCE HELPED YOU IN YOUR CAMPAIGN RACE?
LLA afforded me an opportunity to learn from and with leaders from varying sectors making a significant impact in our comunidad. I not only had an opportunity to develop important lenses to reflect on our collective reality, but have also grown into a vibrant network of gente that has supported me professionally, personally and in my current campaign race by opening doors, navigating situations and making connections. The LLA experience was a safe space for me to be vulnerable and grown in order to better serve.
WEBSITE: https://www.ivanrosalesmontes.com
LLA Special 2020 Election Series
Latino Leadership. What does it look like?
NAME: CARLA COLLINS
LLA COHORT: 4
RACE: San José Unified School District, Trustee Area 3
WHAT DOES LATINO LEADERSHIP LOOK LIKE TO YOU?
To me, Latino leadership looks like our beautiful, diverse community: Latino Leadership is strong and thoughtful, inclusive and progressive, deeply centered on family and uplifting all.
WHY DID YOU DECIDE TO RUN FOR OFFICE?
As a lifelong feminist and progressive Democrat, and as a mother of three San José Unified School District students, I’m deeply rooted in my community and know that the decisions made at the school board have both daily and long-term impact on the nearly 28,000 students and their families. We must work intentionally to undo the systemic racism that has harmed our students, particularly Latino males.
Dolores Huerta says that “every moment is an organizing opportunity, every person a potential activist, every minute an opportunity to change the world.” I know that we need to change the world and for me this means serving our community on the San Jose Unified School Board.
HOW HAS YOUR LLA EXPERIENCE HELPED YOU IN YOUR CAMPAIGN RACE?
LLA gave me tools to examine power structures and create solutions to uplift our community. It widened my network of deep-thinking progressive Latinos who believe public service is noble space that we must expand to better meet the needs of our community.
LLA grounded my deep ancestral love in current political contexts so that I had the confidence to run. Members of Cohort IV (the best Cohort of all!) have been by my side each step of this campaign and that has made all the difference.
WEBSITE: https://www.electcarlacollins.com/
LLA Special 2020 Election Series
Latino Leadership. What does it look like?
NAME: AIMEE ESCOBAR
LLA COHORT: 5
RACE: San Jose-Evergreen Community College District, Trustee Area 7
WHAT DOES LATINO LEADERSHIP LOOK LIKE TO YOU?
Latino Leadership, to me, is a person that leads with the understanding of one’s roots and family heritage, staying culturally connected, and understanding history. A people-oriented leadership through which the leader strives to empower the Latino community by promoting shared and reciprocal power while working side by side with others—facilitating the belief that their contributions are valuable as a voice of the Latino community.
WHY DID YOU DECIDE TO RUN FOR OFFICE?
I decided to run for office because I believe I have a unique mixture of skills, ideas, and energy that would prove beneficial to the future of the Community Colleges. In addition, I strongly believe that regardless of your ethnicity, religion, gender or place of birth that everyone deserves the opportunity to attend college. There are many new ideas to be explored to assist those who are currently falling in the cracks on the path to education, I want to work on closing the cracks, providing a solid road for all to take to reach their goals and increase their future earning capacity.
HOW HAS YOUR LLA EXPERIENCE HELPED YOU IN YOUR CAMPAIGN RACE?
My LLA experience solidified the notion that I, and others like me, deserve a seat at every table. Latinos of all backgrounds deserve to be represented and that it was and is the responsibility of all us to achieve representation, blazing the trail for those coming up behind us while providing a voice for our people.
WEBSITE: https://www.escobarfortrustee.com
LLA on the Move: Daisy Castro
LLA Cohort 10Daisy Castro
Teatro Visión Board
As part of the newest LLA Leadership Cohort, the 2020 Cohort 10, Daisy Castro joined the board of directors for Teatro Visión in July 2020. Daisy Castro grew up in Gonzales, California a small town in the Central Coast surrounded by agriculture. She is the first in her family to complete college, graduating from San Jose State in 2018 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Management.
She first became passionate about helping her community when she discovered the structural – inequities that inhibit economic advancement for immigrant and low income families. Her commitment to close the racial wealth gap has brought her to Excite Credit Union where she provides financial literacy workshops to the community, primarily focusing on families and students in East San Jose. She also helps lead a youth savings initiative which allows low income families to start saving for their children’s future.
She is very excited to be joining Teatro Vision’s board because she knows how important storytelling is in our communities.
LLA on the Move: Jeremy Barousse
LLA Cohort 5 Alum
Jeremy Barousse
Community Health Partnership
After serving eight years at Services, Immigrant Rights and Education Network (SIREN) as the Director of Civic Engagement, Jeremy has accepted a new position at the Community Health Partnership as the new Deputy Director of Advocacy and Civic Engagement.
While at SIREN, Jeremy helped build political power among immigrant and youth communities to drive change. With SIREN, Jeremy led campaigns to strengthen local immigrant rights policies and create new organizing hubs in the county. He also led SIREN’s civic engagement work by registering over 15,000 immigrant voters since 2012 and contacting over 250,000 voters to vote in key elections.
Before his time at SIREN, Jeremy worked as a political organizer for a few local unions where he organized around worker’s rights issues in Silicon Valley. He earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism from San José State University. In his free time, he enjoys traveling, exercising, and sports.