Latino Leadership. What does it look like?

 

LLA is excited that its Latino Leadership Alliance alumni have the passion for their communities and the ganas to use the leadership skills they developed through LLA’s Leadership Academy to put themselves before the voters for the opportunity to work serving their communities through elected office.
Learn more about these leaders, what they’re running for and why they’re doing it.

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.

WEBSITE: https://www.teresacastellanos4sjusd.com