Saturday, April 13th, we saw students from Edmonds College, Skagit Valley College, and the University of Washington- Bothell come together at the University of Washington Bothell Campus to hear from local leaders in their community.

Welcome- The morning started off with Dana Washington, Community-Engaged Learning Program Manager at the University of Washington, welcoming the students to the busy campus! Giving the students a run down of the upcoming speakers and agenda for this event, which is attached below!

Leadership for a Multicultural Age- Dr. Laura Cailloux, Department Chair/Faculty for Sociology & Ethnic Studies at Skagit Valley College, presented about Leadership. She spoke about the shifting demographics in the United States population. She shared these two statistics with the group: 45% of American workers experienced discrimination and/or harassment in the past year (Gallup) and 78% of employees who responded to a Harvard Business Review (HBR) study said they work at organizations that lack diversity in leadership positions (Harvard Business Review). She also shared the wealth inequality that is present: In 2021, the median wealth of a Latino household was $48,720, which is only about 20% of non-Hispanic White households’ median wealth of $250,400 (Muhammad and Gardner). Creating an open discussion about these topics allowed the group to understand the roles this plays in their lives.

Mastering the Art of Presentation: Strategies for Effective Communication- Sarah Boland, Assistant Career Advisor at the University of Washington, presented on how to effectively create and communicate a presentation and tailor it to your audience. She spoke about the planning and gathering of ideas before we elaborate on the presentation itself. Understanding your audience, is important in developing the presentation so that the audience gets the message clearly. She led an interactive activity where students gave a speech to their neighbor and the partner counted the "um" and "like" that were said. Practicing your presentation material will help to reduce the filler words and help you to be more professional.

Careers for the Greater Good- Aliza Auces, Sr. Medicaid Policy Analyst at The MITRE Corporation spoke about her experience through work and where this has led her. When working towards finding a career that works for you and aligns with your personal values and societal impact, you can't be afraid to try something new and see where that leads you. Aliza and her career in Health Policy pushes her to continue influencing policymaking and leveraging her role as a culturally competent health policy expert to serve and give voice to underserved communities.

There are four different types of careers Aliza shared with the students:

• Nonprofit sector: roles in NGOs, charities, social enterprises
• Public sector: government positions focused on public service and policy-making
• Social entrepreneurship: starting businesses with a social or environmental mission
• Corporate social responsibility: careers in companies committed to ethical and sustainable practices

Aliza wants everyone to know that there is no right path and to be confident in yourself, know your worth, create and ground yourself in community, prioritize your health so that you can help others, be comfortable with change, be curious, and ask questions.

Project Planning- Groups got to meet with their advisors and speak about their community projects and fill out a planning document for LETI to have a summary about their project and presentation that they will be completing in May.

Debriefing and Evaluation- The session ended with LETI's Founder & CEO sharing information about our upcoming Breakfast Fundraiser, volunteer opportunities for putting videos together, LLI Alumni Association information, as well as to complete the evaluation about the seminar!

To hear what the speakers had to say, watch the recording that is linked below!

Review the Zoom Recording Here!

The April 13th Immersion Seminar featured Dana Washington, Community-Engaged Learning
Program Manager, University of Washington Bothell, who introduced the speakers.

Dr. Laura Cailloux, Department Chair/Faculty for Sociology & Ethnic Studies, Skagit Valley College, presented "Leadership for a Multicultural Age." She reviewed issues of inequality facing minority groups in the USA.

Sarah Boland, Assistant Career Advisor, UW Bothell, lectured on "Mastering the Art of Presentation: Strategies for Effective Communication" with a framework for effective in-person presentations.

Aliza Auces, Sr. Medicaid Policy Analyst, The MITRE, led a Zoom session on "Careers for the Greater Good," which elicited group participation in a Q&A session.

Saturday, March 2nd, we saw students from Edmonds College, Skagit Valley College, and the University of Washington- Bothell come together at the Skagit Valley College Campus to hear from local leaders in their community. See the attached agenda for this event!

Student Slideshow- The morning started off with each student standing up and introducing themselves. They said their name, school, what they are currently studying or what they want to do as a career in the future.

Leadership Stories- We then introduced a panel of four local leaders in the Skagit County area.

• Claudia Avendano-Ibarra, Human Services Department Chair, Skagit Valley College
• Elizabeth Ibanez, Employment Development Specialist, Worksource Skagit
• Dr. Ismael Vivanco, Superintendent, Mount Vernon School District
• Victor Ponce, North Cascades Program Manager, Center for Inclusive Entrepreneurship

They each answered the following questions that we has prepared for them:

• Which habits, attitudes, or beliefs were the most important in the leadership roles you have held?
• What was the most important lesson you learned when becoming a leader?
• Were there any cultural imperatives that affected your role as a leader?
• From your point of view, what is the most significant issue your school system is facing now?
• To mitigate the current dropout rate, what is your message to parents, students, and the community?

Roundtable Discussions & Lunch with Mentors- We then transitioned into four roundtable discussion groups.

The topics discussed included:

• College Engagement, Leadership, Diversity, and Inclusion- Led by Eduardo Torres, Assistant Director, Center for Student Engagement & Leadership, and, Center for Student Cultural Diversity & Inclusion
• How to create an LLI alumni association?- Led by Rees Clark, Former LETI Board Member and co-founder of Clark Internet that houses LETI's website
• Current Issues affecting the Community- Led by Karla Rios, LETI Board Member and School Counselor at Everett Public Schools
• Internship Opportunities in different areas- Led by Janette Garcia, LETI Board Member and Lead Social Worker at South Park Senior Center

To review the notes from the Roundtable Discussions, click here!

To meet the students and hear what the panelists had to say, watch the recording that is linked below!

Review the Zoom Recording Here!

Saturday, February 19th, we saw students from Edmonds College, Skagit Valley College, and the University of Washington- Bothell come together on Zoom to hear presentations from LLI advisors and other leaders in the community. See the attached agenda for this event!

Welcoming Remarks- We heard from Karla Rios, a LETI Board Member as well as a School Counselor at Everett Public Schools, speak about how she is here to support the students with their projects or answering any questions. She was also in LLI during the 2012 cohort, then she went on the get her Bachelors degree in 2016 and now her Masters in Counselor Education/School Counseling and Guidance Services.

Team Formation & Project Planning- We heard from Skagit Valley College LLI advisors Cynthia Aguirre and Jorge Estefan speak about how you can engage in a project. Team formation consists of initial forming, community agreements, and team maintenance. Developing a goal for the project and roadmap to achieve that goal is crucial for success. Make sure that everyone knows their responsibility and that everyone's voice is able to be heard through every aspect of your project planning.

Unveiling Inequality and Racism- Dr. Sally Guzman, Family and Community Engagement Coordinator, Edmonds School District, presented on this topic. She began to speak about the Amygdala Hijack. Your Amygdala is in your brain and was responsible for our fight or flight and now comes up when we are pushed on cultural norms. Culture is very in depth, where we like to think of it as a cultural tree or cultural iceberg - 90% is underground or underwater. There are three levels of culture - surface level, shallow level, and deep culture. Surface level is what everyone can see based on what you wear or what you eat. Shallow culture includes less explicit aspects like personal space or eye contact. Finally, deep culture is beliefs providing a foundation for culture that are unconscious. Sally also spoke about Bias - preconceived notions, which was a good survival skill to know when things would be harmful for our existence. There are three types of Biases spoken about including Explicit Bias, Implicit Bias, Group/Affinity Biases. Explicit bias is a conscious belief or attitude towards a person or group. Implicit bias is unconscious bias based on prejudice and stereotypes. Group bias is when a people favor their own ingroup members.

Movie Reflection and Discussion- Harvest of Empire Documentary- Juan Peralez, President, Unidos of Snohomish County, led the discussion on the Harvest of Empire Documentary that the students were required to watch. They had a focus on foreign policy and discussed if the U.S. foreign policy of imperialist intervention towards Latin America has changed, white supremacy in Olympia, and about the U.S. backed military crews in South America.

Adapt, Evolve, Grow- The Power of Change in our Journeys- Sixta Morel, Voice actress, Public speaking instructor, shared with us her experience with change. Her chain of change consisted of understanding, embracing, adapting, evolving, and growing. We will not be the same person as we are now - we will continue to evolve. Being patient with your journey is important and listening to yourself, building mental and emotional strength to move forward is key to change. Things can always go wrong, when giving a public presentation for example. If you expect things to happen and humanize your audience, this can help you to understand that it is okay to have bumps in the road. Change require actions- starts with one first step, but you don’t have to change yourself based on how it is received by the public. Embrace change, don’t resist it, give it your best. We can always start over.

Hear more about the sessions and what the speakers had to say in the recording below.

Review the Zoom Recording Here!

Saturday, January 20th, we saw students from Edmonds College, Skagit Valley College, and the University of Washington- Bothell come together on Zoom to hear from local leaders in the community. See the attached agenda for this event!

We had over 60 attendees total, including over 40 students, join to hear Welcoming Remarks from leaders, a Panel of Elected Officials and Leaders, as well as a presentation about the History and Contributions of Latinos in WA State.

Welcoming Remarks- We heard from WA State Representative Lillian Ortiz-Self, President of Edmonds College Dr. Amit Singh, President of Skagit Valley College Dr. Christopher Villa, Director at the Office of Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion University of Washington Bothell Melissa Keightley, and LETI Founder & CEO Rosario Reyes. They spoke about giving back to those in the community being something that is needed in the world. Everyone's voices need to be heard at every level since we are the future. Being honest and transparent makes a difference for those who are marginalized in the community. Listen to the rest of the remarks in the recording below!

Panel of Elected Officials and Leaders- We heard from Mount Vernon Councilmember Iris Carias, Former Mount Vernon Councilmember Juan Morales, and Former WA State Senator Maralyn Chase. They were able to share their thoughts on a series of questions including describing their past jobs leading up to being in office, skills that have been valuable for their achievements, why they initially ran for office and the challenges that they faced along the way, as well as critical issues for Latinos and people of color and a call to action for our future leaders. Hear their answers in the recording below!

History and Contributions of Latinos in WA State- Dr. Antonio Sanchez spoke about Latinx in WA State and in the US. He shared with us leaders who pioneered they way through Washington State and the US that many of us did not learn in school. He shared how the largest growth of voting age Washingtonians are Latinos and that Latinos are the largest racial/ethnic group in WA State. We learned about Tlahuicole, Ynes Mexia, and Maria Adelina Isabel Otero-Warren and how their bravery and discoveries are still impactful to this day. Hear more about this in the recording below.

Other participants include:

• Dr. Shari Dworkin, Professor at UWB
• Dr. Jack Khan, President of Shoreline
• Dr. Lisa Edwards, Superintendent Verdant Health Commission
• Dr. Rees Clark, Former LETI Board Member and supporter
• Dr. Susana Reyes, Superintendent Shoreline
• Dr. Victor Vergara, Assistant Superintendent Edmonds School District
• Dr. Laura Cailloux, Skagit Valley College
• Dr. Jorge de la Torre, VP of Student Engagement
• Dr. Linda Lyshall, Executive Director Snohomish Conservation District
• Kristin Marshall, Habitat Restoration and Floodplan Department Director

Review the Zoom Recording Here!

Saturday January 6th, we saw the University of Washington- Bothell LLI group join the advisors and LETI LLI team members to understand more about the program expectations and do team building exercises. See the attached agenda of this event that took place on Zoom.

Dana Washington, Community-Engaged Learning Program Manager at the University of Washington- Bothell started out the session with an icebreaker. Students and advisors were able to learn more about each other through a series of questions including if they prefer morning or night as well as if they would rather eat at home or at a restaurant.

Eduardo Torres, Assistant Director, Center for Student Engagement & Leadership and Center for Student Cultural Diversity & Inclusion at Edmonds College went over the expectations of the program. Students heard all of the in person dates, plans for their meetings at their own schools, as well as their group project and presentation.

Beth Wangen, 4-H Volunteer Development Coordinator, WSU Extension, led a team building activity. She shared the importance of creating a contract between group members so everyone understands their role and how this will tie into the group project. Students also answered a series of questions to see if they identify more as someone who takes charge in a group or is able to listen and make sure everyone has a voice.

Review the Zoom Recording Here!

The 2023 - 2024 LLI cohort is being formed and the students are eager to begin! The first group session for the three schools, Edmonds College, Skagit Valley College, and University of Washington Bothell, will begin January 6th with our group Orientation!

For Edmonds College, the program will begin with Orientation on Saturday, January 6th, and the leaders will strive to meet with Edmonds College students beforehand to let them know about the program.

For Skagit Valley College, winter quarter for Latino Leadership Initiative begins 1/13/24. Their focus this quarter will be to begin exploring and planning for the start of their team service projects that will be presented to community members as well as having their classmates interview a Local Leader. They would like to highlight that they have a great team of 15 students of all ages and backgrounds who are passionate about learning skills to better serve our Latino community and who are eager to begin to work on their service project. They just completed Fall quarter where we focused on Latino history, leadership and the understanding of community needs.

The University of Washington Bothell LLI cohort will start the week of January 8th - 12th. In the past UW Bothell has been a proud partner of Bothell High School, mentoring Latinx students and this year our community service project will continue to reflect the combined interest of the cohort for how they want to support the Latinx community. For more information about UW Bothell's Latino Leadership Initiative cohort, click here to visit their webpage!

We are excited to get the students together and begin the 2023 - 2024 Latino Leadership Initiative!

LETI, in partnership with Edmonds College, Skagit Valley College, and the University of Washington Bothell, seeks to train Latino students to be leaders, not only in words but in action.

In the Latino Leadership Initiative program, we hold training seminars where students from those schools can learn to be leaders and complete a community project to demonstrate the power of leadership by action.

Stay Tuned for 2024 information from this website and through the three colleges listed above!

2023 LLI Photos:

• General Session Photos
• Graduation Photos
  University of Washington Bothell Session
  

  Skagit Valley College Presentation Session
  

University of Washington Bothell's Public Information Specialist, Elisabeth Schnebele, wrote an article about our Latino Leadership Initiative (LLI) program. The article contains statements from UW Bothell's LLI advisors, Dr. Victoria Breckwich-Vasquez and Felicity Abeyta, about the intergenerational impact their LLI students have through their mentorship project with Bothell High School students.

Dr. Breckwich-Vasquez is an affiliate assistant professor and lecturer in UW Bothell’s School of Nursing & Health Studies, and Felicity Abeyta is a pre-major academic adviser in UW Bothell’s Student Success Center.

The article also features a testimonial from Maria Valentina Palacios, a 2022 University of Washington Bothell alumna and LLI alumna as well as a paralegal in immigration. Palacios reflected on her own experience with her mentee in which she was proud to see her mentee succeed through her support.

This program is in partnership with Edmonds College, Skagit Valley College, and the University of Washington Bothell where we have seminars and speakers who train Latino students to be leaders, not only in words but in action through community projects each group completes.

Read more about the University of Washington Bothell article here.

Click to learn more about the LLI program.

Photo from the University of Washington Bothell "The mark of a mentor" article.

Congratulations to all the students for their hard work on their projects which were focused on helping strengthen the Latino community with resources and support!

Graduation will be held May 20th at Edmonds College, Woodway Hall Room 202 at 10:00 am - 12:00 pm.

Stay tuned for more information about the LLI graduation!
Students, check your emails and please RSVP with the total number of friends/family that will be in attendance.

Click to view the Graduation Program and Agenda

Saturday May 13th, we saw groups of students from Edmonds College, Skagit Valley College, and the University of Washington- Bothell present their LLI group project. See the attached agenda below of this event that took place in person at the Skagit Valley College campus.

The Edmonds College group spoke about their Community Online Database with resources in education, health, and behavioral health. Their main goals were to provide resources for mental health and handout information on Snohomish programs to help kids and parents with mental health as well as parents with connecting with kids and finishing schooling. Provide resources to Latino community to identify companies with Spanish speaking services.

The Skagit Valley College group spoke about bringing awareness about mental health and mental illnesses. Provide help and options for how to physically get out and get involved in activities.

The University of Washington- Bothell group shared about how their goals each session depended on what the students were looking for. The group wanted to make sure they were able to help and give crucial information to these high school students, whatever was needed, especially in regards to continuing their education.

May is Mental Health Awareness month and there are events on May 17th, May 22nd, and May 30th for Mental Health Matters of Washington.

May 17th, there will be a virtual round table on neurodiversity with Dr. Lucas Harrington, a psychologist who was diagnosed with autism later in life. His research and lived experiences will be shared at this virtual session. They will provide both ASL and Spanish translation.

May 22nd: (in person at Skagit Valley College): Nalaxone Training (with English to Spanish translation).

May 30th: Lifesaving Conversations: They are partnering with the UW Forefront Center to provide their LEARN skills training on Zoom. They will also provide ASL and Spanish translation.

Click to view flyers.

Sixta Morel, bilingual communicator, former TV host, voice actress, and producer of the podcast Gente, Historias y Emociones, addressed the LLI students on 15 April on the topic of being prepared for public speaking.

Sixta started working in the media business as a teenager, and has had the opportunity to work in front and behind the camera, in different roles, including tv host, Emcee, voice over talent, and acting. Born in the Dominican Republic, and established in Seattle, Sixta works independently as voiceover actress (audiobook narrator, dubbing actress, e-learning presenter, commercial, etc.) and on-camera talent, and as public speaking trainer.

Graduated as radio and TV broadcaster, holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration, and certificates in Cultural Journalism (DR) and Public Relations and Strategic Communications from University of Washington, and a dubbing certification from A Voz academia in Colombia.

As Master of ceremonies, she has hosted several national and international events, including private, corporates, nonprofits and bilingual presentations. Morel is trained in acting; including a summer program at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, NY.

This week, 15 April will see the resumption of in-person LLI sessions, starting at 10AM at the University of Washington- Bothell. Please see the agenda attached and join our presenters in discussion. This would be a good time to show up.

If you have not registered on the website, there will be no more appropriate opportunity. See Marisol or one of the other team members for instructions. When you join, you can start building your personal profile, add Updates to the members page from your profile and participate in discussion forums. You can also launch topics to share information with your project team members.

Topic: Edmonds College Group Presentation
Speakers: Maria Guadalupe Villareal, Yustine Saavedra, Liliana Ruiz, Kamilla Rayon, Monica Ortiz, Jazmin Herrera

Topic: University of Washington Bothell Group Presentation
Speakers: Brisa Barajas, Tori Sattefield, Maria Valentina Palacios, Laura Orjuela, Larissa Lima, Luis Gregorio Guerrero

Topic: Skagit Valley College 1st Group Presentation
Speakers: Berenice Macias, Rosa Soria Mondragon, Ricardo Gomez, Marcelina Mendoza, Samantha Guttierez

Topic: Skagit Valley College 2nd Group Presentation
Speakers: Roxana Guzman, Ralph Herrera, Hector Mariscal Medina, Cesar Osornio Ramos


Topic: Evaluators' Feedback on Final Projects
Evaluators:
Francisco Pacheco, President, BeTalentful Corporation
Pamela Jackson, Lead Coach and Steward, Encounter Purpose Coaching
Leonor Bejarano, Community Resource Advocate of South Snohomish County Community Information Line, Volunteers of America
Felisa Garcia, Administrative Assistant, Social Studies, Edmonds College

Attend May 14th Session