Latino Leadership Initiative
Latino Leadership Initiative

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LLI 2025 3rd Immersion Seminar

Saturday, April 12th, we saw students from Edmonds College, Skagit Valley College, the University of Washington- Bothell, and Washington State University Everett, come together on Skagit Valley College's campus to hear from local leaders in their community. See the attached agenda for this event!

Leadership for Social Justice- Dr. Laura Cailloux, Department Chair & Faculty for Sociology & Ethnic Studies, Skagit Valley College, shared how important it is to have leaders who act for social justice and showing us the difference of equity and equality while managing a discussion.

Strategies for Effective Communication- Jonathan Cisneros, Agency Owner, American Family Insurance, shared what he has learned in the business world as the best way to present and how the key factor is knowing who your audience is.

The Power Of Healing & Transformation- Alex Sanchez, Re-Entry Navigator, Underground Ministries, and his brother Gernaro Sanchez, OUR Journey Founder & Gang Youth Reentry Advisor, Underground Healing, both shared their life stories and how this has led them to serving the community and transforming lives.

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

Review the Zoom Recording Here!

LLI 2025 2nd Immersion Seminar

Saturday, March 1st, we saw students from Edmonds College, Skagit Valley College, the University of Washington- Bothell, and Washington State University Everett, come together on UW Bothell's campus to hear from local leaders in their community. See the attached agenda for this event!

Leadership Stories- Local leaders shared their perspectives and journeys.

  • Dr. Concie Pedroza, Superintendent, Tukwila School District
  • Marisol Bejarano, Director of Health & Wellness Programs, LETI
  • Jose Tapia, Systems Architecture Engineer, T-Mobile

Embracing Transformation: Viewing Change as an Opportunity- Sixta Morel, Voice actress, Public Speaking Instructor, shared her beautiful message about how important change is to growth and how it is not something to be feared.

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

Review the Zoom Recording Here!

LLI 2025 1st Immersion Seminar

Saturday, February 8th, we saw students and community leaders from Edmonds College, Skagit Valley College, the University of Washington- Bothell, and Washington State University Everett, come together on Zoom to hear from local leaders in their community. See the attached agenda for this event!

Team Formation and Project Planning- Students learned the best ways to build teams and do projects together efficiently.

  • Jorge Estefan, Latino Leadership Initiative Instructor & EDASC Business Advisor, Skagit Valley College
  • Kali Ortiz, Latino Leadership Initiative Instructor, Skagit Valley College

Implicit Bias & Anti-Discrimination- Anthony Greenwald, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus, University of Washington, presented on this topic. Teaching students that we all live with biases but how do we identify and address them in the work that we do and not let them affect us.

Movie Reflection & Discussion: Harvest of Empire Documentary- Juan Peralez, President, Unidos of Snohomish County, led a great discussion with the students on this documentary showing them the roles that government and policy play.

Federal, State and County Budgets: Where Does It All Go?- Students learned about the budgets at different levels and the roles they play in its formation.

  • Jessica Corbman, Community Liason, Office of Representative Larsen
  • Al O’Brien, Assistant Teaching Professor, Seattle University
  • Megan Dunn, Snohomish County Councilmember

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

Review the Zoom Recording Here!

LLI 2025 Kick-Off

Saturday, January 11th, we saw students and community leaders from Edmonds College, Skagit Valley College, the University of Washington- Bothell, and Washington State University Everett, come together on Zoom to hear from local leaders in their community. See the attached agenda for this event!

Remarks from Community Leaders & Dignitaries- The following College/University and community leaders took a minute to welcome our students and speak to them about leadership.

  • Dr. Amit Singh, President, Edmonds College
  • Dr. Paul Pitre, Chancellor, Washington State University Everett
  • Dr. Christopher Villa, President, Skagit Valley College
  • Carolyn Brennan, Executive Director, Office of Connected Learning, UW
  • Christine Frizzell, Mayor, Lynnwood

Panel of Elected Officials- The following Elected Officials were in attendance and answering questions that we prepared about their own leadership journeys, why it is important that their community is represented in government, and the issues affecting Latinos today.

  • Danny Herrera, Councilmember, Yakima
  • Elpidia Saavedra, Mayor, Toppenish
  • Jimmy Matta, Councilmember, Burien
  • Jorge Galvan, Deputy Mayor, Sunnyside
  • Lili Navarrete, Councilmember, Spokane

History & Contributions of Latinos in WA State- Dr. Sally Guzman, Family & Community Engagement Coordinator, Edmonds School District, led this discussion. She shared with the students about all of the contributions that Latinos had in Washington State that we don't learn about in school and many of us did not know.

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

Review the Zoom Recording Here!

LLI 2025 Orientations

Saturday, December 7th (2024) and January 4th (2025), we saw students and community leaders from Edmonds College, Skagit Valley College, the University of Washington- Bothell, and Washington State University Everett come together on Zoom to learn more about this program. See the attached agenda for this event!

Student Expectations and Service Learning Project Guidelines - We shared with the students all the requirements for the program and their participation.

To review the Expectations and Guidelines, click here!

Team Building Activity - Beth Wangen, 4-H Volunteer Development Coordinator at WSU Extension, Snohomish County Department of Conservation & Natural Resources, led this activity. Students were tasked with getting to know each other, work together, and establish a foundation of what it means to be part of a team before their service learning projects begin.

To review what was covered during the Orientations, watch the recording that is linked below!

Review the Zoom Recording Here!

LLI Reunion Unites Students over 12 Years

We would like to extend our heartfelt gratitude to those who joined us at the 2024 LLI Alumni Reunion! Your presence and participation made the event truly special and memorable.

Our goal has always been to create a positive impact in the world through education, and your continued support helps us move closer to achieving this mission. The stories shared and the connections made during the reunion remind us of the incredible community we have built together.

If you feel inspired to further contribute to our cause, we invite you to consider making a donation or volunteering your time and expertise. Your generosity and dedication can help us expand our reach and support even more individuals in their educational and leadership journeys.

Thank you once again for your unwavering support and for being a vital part of our community. Together, we can continue to make a lasting difference in the world.

And if you're a former student, you may already be a member of our new Alumni Association. It's fully integrated with the Member system, and it has its own home page and news section. We welcome brief updates and articles about what you've been doing since your LLI days.
Graduation '24 Draws Grads, Family, Dignitaries
Graduation '24 Draws Grads, Family, Dignitaries

The LLI graduation ceremony in may was held at Skagit Community College in Mount Vernon. Attendees included workshop participants, faculty, parents and friends, plus some excited children of students.
LLI 2024 Project Presentations

Saturday, May 11th, we saw students from Edmonds College, Skagit Valley College, and the University of Washington- Bothell come together at the Edmonds College Campus to share their project presentations with the fellow colleges and evaluators.

Getting Started: Life Cases

The Edmonds College group focused their efforts on addressing important facets of life such as Education, Family, Health, Career, Community, and Immigration. Accordingly, they assisted newly arrived parents and families with navigating American resource systems. In their presentation, the Edmonds College Group spoke about four different cases: Immigrants with Degrees Already, Balancing Parent and Student Life, Living Life as an Immigrant, and Advocating for Immigrant Families. Each group member was assigned to a case in which they presented their experience dealing with their respective issue and shared information, statistics, resources, and steps to contribute to a solution. Sharing this information can help community members be able to support others who are experiencing the reality of the presented life cases and are struggling to balance the different areas of life, especially in regards to those who are immigrants.

Inspiring Latino Scholars

The UW Bothell group designed a curriculum to facilitate Mentorship sessions where they provided resources to Bothell High School Latinx students. Bothell High School students were mentored by UW Bothell LLI students to help address college and post-high school graduation career pathways. Mentor session topics include: Things You Don’t Know You Need to Know as a First-Generation Student, Financial Aid, College Application and Admissions Process, Major/Career Explorations, Resume and Personal Statement Workshop, and Visualizing Your College Experience.

Raices Unidas

The Raices Unidas group from Skagit Valley College created a sense of belonging through culture. The young children of immigrants are at a higher risk of joining gangs, largely due to the prevailing loneliness epidemic in the US. In such environments, gangs often fulfill the emotional needs for acceptance and cultural identification that these young individuals lack in their daily lives. Their project was to promote cultural identification with family roots to address this need effectively. Activities included tortilla crafting, folklore dancing, pinata crafting, and a dinner reunion with workshop participants and community members.

O.U.R. Journey Youth Program

The Youth Program Group from Skagit Valley College reached out to the organization O.U.R. Journey to support their community as a whole by helping coordinate a sports play day. Their main focus was to promote and share fun activities with the youth and their parents that stimulate a sense of belonging, happiness, and overall team work within all participants. The play day also served as a a fundraiser for O.U.R. Journey and local nonprofits that share community values.

LLI Website: Leadership Network

The LLI Website: Leadership Network group from Skagit Valley College designed an online platform with information from Skagit Valley College that allows for the distribution of information about LLI. This project gives information of the past LLI members who participated in the LLI class as well as the projects that they developed for the communities

View the Project Presentations Here!

LLI 2024 3rd Immersion Seminar

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!

Speakers present action techniques in Third Immersion Seminar
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.
LLI 2024 2nd Immersion Seminar

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!

LLI 2024 1st Immersion Seminar

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!

LLI 2024 Kick-Off

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!

LLI 2024 Orientation

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!

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