Developing Leaders

Leaders make change – together.

Coleman parent and student leaders are the rare, courageous neighborhood residents willing to move others from apathy into action. They face extraordinary battles and crises in their personal lives, yet they find the hope and inspiration to lead membership meetings, attend leadership workshops, make hundreds of phone calls and mobilize other members to speak out at public hearings. On any given week, a Coleman leader will be speaking to a public official, facilitating a school site membership meeting, learning about the state budget, negotiating with a school staffperson, or taking time out of their day to have intense, one-on-one conversations with their peers about making change with Coleman families.

Together, Coleman leaders in YMAC, PMAC & SMAC develop a critical analysis of the world, gain the skills to make change, build unity across our many differences, and win concrete improvements for our community. It is hard work. It takes courage, and sacrifice. We evaluate our setbacks, and when we win, we celebrate!

Through our Grassroots Leadership Institute and issue campaigns, Coleman members:

• Receive intensive leadership training workshops in their schools, at our Center, and at our annual Leadership Retreat;
  
• Participate in hands-on leadership opportunities, like public speaking, and facilitating member meetings;
  
• Lead peer workshops at YMAC, PMAC & SMAC membership and leadership meetings;
  
• Receive one-on-one support to accomplish personal goals, with an emphasis on academic support for our high-school students and support to gain life-long self-advocacy skills.

Y-MAC YOUTH LEADER Goyette, Burton High School

“I was really shy before joining YMAC and wasn’t comfortable speaking in public, but after becoming a leader in YMAC I have really grown out of my shyness. I overcame my fear of public speaking and now I am a strong leader at my school.

Goyette Williams is a junior at Burton High School and a YMAC youth leader. She joined YMAC at the beginning of her sophomore year (she is now a junior) and quickly transformed from a shy young women, preferring to stay in the background at meetings and actions, to an outspoken, passionate, dedicated youth organizer committed to changing her school, district and community to better serve the long-neglected interests of low-income youth and families of color.

Goyette was born and has been raised – by a single mother –  in one of San Francisco’s last-remaining African American neighborhoods, and one of the poorest communities in the city.  She knows first hand the challenge of being a student struggling to succeed in an under-resourced school and being part of family struggling to make ends meet in a city pushing record numbers of African American families out every year.

When the SFUSD, in response to a budget deficit, decided to cut all Summer School classes in 2010, Goyette was directly impacted. She desperately needed Summer School to make up credits to be on track to graduate, and many of her peers were in the same situation. Goyette was one of the strongest youth advocates pushing Coleman to launch a short-term campaign to restore summer school. She testified at a hearing and was quoted in the local newspaper about her personal academic challenges.

Ultimately, we won a commitment from the Mayor to dedicate $250,000 to partially restore Summer School. Since then, Goyette has been one of YMAC’s strongest youth leaders, recruiting many new student members, regularly facilitating meetings and workshops, designing and carrying out survey drives (interviewing students about their issue priorities), testifying multiple times at Board of Education meetings, and speaking at citywide rallies (including a major rally to defend public education from budget cuts at the state level).

Goyette has also been involved in the development of Coleman’s quality jobs campaign – “Our Jobs, Our Future” – as a participant in the youth focus groups that helped inform our campaign demands and strategies. She co-M.C.ED our first major jobs campaign action, a rally and creative action at City Hall that brought out more than 300 people. Goyette is particularly committed to building unity among YMAC members, and among students at her school, across the racial, ethnic, gender, sexuality and other divisions that keep low-income students from recognizing their common struggle and common interest. She has made it clear to all of us at Coleman that she is in this for the long-haul and looks forward to raising her family in San Francisco and transitioning from a YMAC member to a SMAC (our community college organizing group) member to a PMAC (our parent organizing group) member over the years.

 

P-MAC PARENT LEADER Laida, Cleveland Elementary School

“No one knows my children and what they need better than I do.”

When Laida joined PMAC in 2007, she was shy, soft-spoken, and unlikely to speak up in a meeting. Now she is one of PMAC’s most outspoken and effective leaders.

Last year, when Laida and other parents of kindergarteners at Cleveland Elementary School found out that for the first time in recent history, the school would not be carrying out the traditional parent-led Kindergarten or 5th grade graduation ceremonies, she immediately stepped up to lead a community intervention.  Kindergarten graduation is a very significant milestone in Latin American communities and the cancellation – which came with no explanation and only a couple weeks notice – was perceived as a disregard for Latin American cultural traditions. Laida, supported by Coleman staff, organized the Latino patents at Cleveland and facilitated two meetings with the Cleveland Principal and teachers. As a result of the persuasive case that Laida and the other parents’ made and the effective listening and diplomacy skills they demonstrated, relationships were made stronger, everyone left the meeting feeling heard and the administration agreed to reinstate and support the graduation ceremonies. The graduation was ultimately held at Coleman’s community center and, inspired by their advocacy success and by Laida’s leadership, more than 20 parents joined PMAC on the spot.

Laida grew up in Guanajate, Mexico. Her father passed away when she was 11 and her mother had to raise six children on her own. Laida’s mother was determined to move to the United States where she hoped to build a better life for her children. Eventually her mother made her way to the U.S. and one by one, each of her children joined her.  Laida, at 20 years old, was the last one to make the trip. Eventually she found work as a caretaker and house cleaner for a woman in San Francisco. Shortly after that, Laida met her husband and they began to build their family.

Laida’s children – a 2nd grader and a 5th grader now, both boys – are her main motivation and inspiration.  Sometimes, exhausted, she feels drained of all motivation to keep up the fight, but then she looks at her children and remembers her dreams for them, and the fire inside of her is sparked again. She is deeply grateful to Coleman for helping her develop the skills and confidence to be an advocate and organizer and for giving her the sense that she is not in this alone, and someone always has her back.

One of the biggest challenges Laida has faced as an organizer has been trying to motivate other parents. She sees a lot of people around her expecting some immediate prize for any time they put in. She says that she has been able to stay committed over the long haul has because she has never expected anything in return for her work.  The rewards have been huge, she insists, but she did not expect or require them.  “I do this work because I believe in it and I want to do my part to make a better world for my children.  I am constantly reminding other parents, even if there isn’t some immediate payback, the knowledge and information that we gain from the process is a treasure.  It helps us to support our children with their educational success and in their lives”.

Laida says people ask her all the time: “How do you do it? How do you keep up with it all?” She always responds that she just does what she is able and that no one knows her children, and what need to succeed, more than she does, and so it is her responsibility to play an active role in their education.  She tells other parents that they have the same special insights about their own children and so the same responsibilities to be involved.

 

SMAC STUDENT LEADER Veronica, City College of San Francisco

“SMAC has helped me to realize that I am not alone in my struggles and that it’s not necessarily my fault that I haven’t been able to accomplish everything I want for myself and my daughters. Before I was involved in SMAC, I internalized everything as my fault. Now I realize that it’s not that I’m stupid, but that there are real and powerful systemic barriers to my success, hurdles that I need support to get over. Seeing and being a part of this work makes me feel like I’m a member of a community and a movement much bigger than my own struggles and this has inspired me to pursue a career in social justice and advocating for others.”  

Veronica is the SMAC Basebuilding Club Leader and studies Political Science at City College of San Francisco.  She was born and raised and went to public schools in San Francisco and is the proud single mother of two daughters – Araseli a 5th grader and Priscilla a 2nd grader – who attend Rooftop Alternative School.

A first generation Mexican-American and first generation college student, Veronica had her first daughter while still in High School and had to work part-time to help support her. Education has always been a priority for Veronica and she was determined to beat the odds and stay in school.

In addition to the many obstacles faced as a teenage mother, the experience that has most inspired her fighting spirit, and informed her passion for justice, has been caring and advocating for her sick mother. In 2008, Veronica’s mother fell seriously ill and was diagnosed with congestive heart failure. Her mom was receiving inadequate health care treatment and almost died as a result of medical neglect. Veronica was forced to step in and become her mom’s advocate and caretaker. For the last four years, Veronica has been fighting to save her mom’s life

Veronica first attended community college when she was 19 and she describes feeling completely lost, without a clue about how to navigate the system and no one to guide her. She dropped out before the end of the semester. Four years later, she mustered up enough courage to try again.  This time she was referred to a great counselor, before she even had her classes picked out, and it made all the difference.

SMAC was Veronica’s first involvement in organizing or advocacy efforts of any kind, and the work and the relationships she has built with other student leaders have completely transformed her sense of herself.

Veronica’s development as a student leader is a testament to the powerful role that faculty can play in students’ lives and sense of possibility.  Veronica cites her Political Science professor at CCSF, who is also the SMAC Faculty advisor, as the person most responsible for her path as a campus organizer.   Ms. Homer is well known for always going the extra mile for students – as a mentor, coach and confidante – to support them to be the best they can be. Veronica says that Ms. Homer’s classes opened her eyes and inspired her and motivated her in so many ways. She heard her own stories and those of her family in the issues she was learning about in class. Her dynamic and accessible teaching style, and the information shared, allowed Veronica to connect the dots and develop a new, deeper understanding of the roots of inequality.  And it was Ms. Homer who approached Veronica about getting involved in SMAC.

Veronica remembers the first times she represented SMAC at a Board of Trustees meeting, she was incredibly nervous but encouraged by her fellow SMACers, she stepped forward to be the first student to testify. She spoke from the heart about the challenges students would face if the school went ahead with its plan to increase parking fees. Her words inspired other students to speak out and ultimately the school decided not to move forward with the fee increase.

“I am so proud of myself for having the guts to take initiative like that. I am proud to be setting a good example for other students and for my kids”.   

Veronica aspires to work for a social justice nonprofit some day.