As an alumnus of Future Leaders of America, I’ve had the greatest honor to lead this organization since 2014 as its executive director. Through this role, I have grown tremendously professionally and personally and had the privilege to get to know many of our friends and supporters. I am really proud of the work my team’s done over the last half-decade of continually increasing Future Leaders' impact on the Central Coast. Through our work we have been able to reimagine power and transform communities in boundless ways. After this powerful journey, I am announcing my departure from the group this summer.
When I first walked into my office, it was merely a classroom in the old Oxnard High School and a desk in Santa Barbara. Future Leaders of America (FLA) had suffered great losses due to the 2008 market crash and was still reeling from the financial impact. With three employees, two of them part-time, we got to work. FLA has become the premiere youth leadership organization on the Central Coast, from relaunching old programs such as our Family Leadership Conference to engaging in new youth organizing efforts. We have also expanded our efforts outside Santa Barbara and Oxnard to include Port Hueneme, Carpinteria, and Santa Maria by merging with Central Coast Future Leaders. We’ve experienced many wins (i.e., A-G for All!) and many setbacks, but I am proud to have been part of it all.
Future Leaders is now part of a larger set of organizations uplifting youth as social change agents. Our youth have advocated for healthier communities through our government partnerships and to reduce underage access to tobacco and alcohol. Our partnership with Education Trust West allowed us to expand the discussion on what equity means by presenting “data for the people.” Through Power CA, we ran local campaigns, hired as many as 20 youths at a phonebank to call thousands of voters to become part of the electoral process. Not to mention our partnership with CAUSE and MICOP to form the 805UndocuFund that has has allowed FLA to support the management and administration of the COVID-19 response efforts — distributing more than $3 million to undocumented families throughout Ventura and Santa Barbara counties.