Youth project trains future Chicano-Latino leaders

Bertha Jazmin Hernandez (center) speaks at student Capitol gathering while Max Espinoza (dark suit) applauds.

Max Espinoza first came to Sacramento in 1992 as a high school student to attend the Chicano Latino Youth Leadership Project. Now he is the policy director for Assembly Speaker Karen Bass.

The journey between those two Capitol experiences brought Espinoza opportunities he says he never could have imagined if it weren't for the leadership project. Today the project continues to change the way young Chicanos and Latinos imagine their futures.

"The Chicano Latino Youth Leadership Project was a turning point for me because I was with like-minded people who wanted to make something of themselves that was bigger than themselves," said Espinoza, who is now the organization's president. "It was that extra push I needed to execute my goals and channel my energy to be productive for my family, my community and my state."

Since its founding in 1982, the leadership project has taken more than 2,000 high school students to Sacramento for a weeklong summer training program. Recently it has added regional programs to include more students. The UC Office of the President is one of the organization's main sponsors along with the California State University, California Teachers Association and California Latino Legislative Caucus.

Through role-playing and lectures, the students learn community organizing skills, how to run a campaign, hold a press conference, set and execute goals, participate in public policy debate and apply to college.
The program emphasizes taking what they've learned back to their communities, a lesson Espinoza took to heart.

As a result of the program, Espinoza enrolled at UCLA, where he became active in social justice causes. He successfully ran for student government and served as a UC student regent.

Hearing about the successes of people like Espinoza was a great motivator for Bertha Jazmin Hernandez, one of 120 students selected from nearly 1,000 applicants to attend the 2008 program.

"Those speakers come from the same places we come from," said Hernandez. "They came from Mexico and they were poor but now they're professionals. That makes us think, 'If he can do it, I can do it.' It's inspirational for us. They know where they come from, and they don't forget."

Hernandez arrived in California in 2006 to live with an older sister after her mother died in Mexico. Now a senior at Eisenhower High School in Rialto, Hernandez had to learn both a new language and culture. Despite her challenges, she has a 4.0 GPA and mastered English well enough in 10 months to pass both the language and math portions of the California High School Exit Exam. At the leadership program, her peers elected Hernandez the 2008 student president.

Hernandez plans to attend UC Riverside as a business major when she graduates in 2009. During her term as student president of the Chicano Latino Youth Leadership Project, she wants to raise more money so more students can attend the life-changing Sacramento training program.

"I think everyone has potential," Hernandez said.  "Like a little seed, if you nurture it, it can grow to give food to many people. I believe we have the little seed inside us. We can grow and later help many people."