Leadership Rooted in Service, Identity, and Community

Growing up, the leaders I admired most were my parents and my teachers. They were the people I listened to, followed, and trusted. At the time, I believed leadership meant authority. Leadership was having the final say, setting the rules, and being the person others listened to. That definition made sense to me because I had been raised to respect authority and do what I was told.

It took years for me to understand how limited that definition was.

Today, leadership means something very different. To me, leadership is rooted in service. It is about uplifting others, creating space for them to recognize their own potential, and walking alongside people as they work toward change in their communities.

That shift began when I was fifteen.

I attended a summer camp in Prescott, Arizona called Anytown. Getting there was not easy. My parents had always been protective, and I had never spent a night away from home. It took encouragement from one of my mom’s close friends, who had attended camp herself as a teenager, to convince my mom to let me go. I did not realize then how much that decision would shape the rest of my life.

After one week at Anytown, I returned home with a completely different perspective. For the first time, I could clearly see how deeply racism and bigotry still existed within our communities. That awareness stayed with me. I returned to Anytown year after year as a volunteer counselor, helping guide others through the same experience. Still, something felt unfinished. I wanted to do more than understand the problem. I wanted to be of service to my community in a way that led to change.

As I grew older, that desire guided every step I took.

After graduating from college, I began working at a community center where I connected residents with stakeholders to improve neighborhood safety and infrastructure. This work introduced me to organizing and showed me the power of collective action. Yet education remained at the center of my thinking. I knew I had been fortunate to attend college, and I wanted that opportunity to feel possible for every student.

I kept asking myself one question. How do we make sure all children, regardless of their zip code, know their options and have access to a quality education?

Years later, as I continued working in education in Arizona, I became a scholarship advisor and learned about ALL In Education’s Adelante Fellowship. The fellowship immediately stood out to me. It was a leadership development program designed for emerging leaders who wanted to create change within Arizona’s education system. In a state that consistently ranks near the bottom in education outcomes, the mission resonated deeply.

What truly set Adelante apart, though, was its focus on racial identity. I had never encountered a leadership program that acknowledged how identity shapes the way we lead. That intentionality mattered.

Each Adelante session added another layer of understanding. The speakers were thoughtfully curated, and by the end of the fellowship, the issues facing Arizona’s education system felt connected rather than overwhelming. I would leave each session energized, talking through everything I was learning with my wife, reflecting on my role as a Latina educator and how I fit into the larger picture.

For the first time, the puzzle pieces made sense.

Adelante helped me see the gaps in representation across educational leadership. Time and time again, the people making decisions did not reflect the students they served. That realization stayed with me and strengthened my resolve to step forward.

When I graduated from the Adelante Fellowship in May 2022, I learned there was an open seat up for election in my local school district. It felt like an invitation to put everything I had learned into practice. Adelante had helped me understand educational inequities more deeply and had given me the confidence to lead with my racial identity at the forefront.

Eventually, my journey came full circle.

After participating in leadership programs like Adelante and LISTO Academy, and continuing to work closely with ALL In Education, I joined the organization as the Managing Director of Leadership Programs. Today, I have the privilege of guiding others through the same transformative experiences that shaped my own path.

In just over a year at ALL In Education, I have witnessed the power of our leadership programs firsthand. From parents to emerging leaders to seasoned advocates, we are building a collective movement rooted in lived experience, identity, and service. Change does not happen in isolation. It takes all of us, especially those who understand how our racial identity journeys shape the way we lead and how we fight for our communities.