leadership development

The Leaders are the base…

Leadership development is the core of the Immigrant Worker Project. We understand that in order to create a new world where everyone has the right to sustain herself and to follow her dreams (bread and roses), the most affected must be the leaders. Those who know what it is to have their land taken away must be the leaders; the ones forced by neoliberalism and free trade policies to migrate far away from their homes must be the leaders; the ones who are followed in stores because of the color of their skin or sexual orientation must be the leaders; the ones who live in fear of taking their kids to school or going to work because ICE might arrest them must be the leaders; the ones who risk their lives for a better future for their children must be the leaders; the ones who work day to day and take the time to better themselves and organize must be the leaders. In all the most affected must be the voice of justice and freedom because they know what it is to be oppressed. Because of that they will make sure that no one (no matter who you are or where you come from) should go through the same oppression. They are the liberators and as they liberate themselves they liberate all of us for a new world. This is the spirit that guides our leadership development.

Many movements have been formed with the idea that one leader will lead us to attain our goals. We believe that this approach has in fact been a problem. We believe that everyone from the base not only has the capability to lead but the responsibility to better themselves and grow so that they all can become the leaders of the future.

How we do it…

We do this in many ways, from basic organizing meetings and actions, to taking any opportunity for the base to participate and grow and learn. As our members move towards become strong leaders they meet with legislators, speak at rallies and protests, speak in the media, learn how to use the internet and digital media, learn English, learn about many methods of organizing and political education.

The tools…

One on Ones (Denver & Aurora) – The organizer individually meets with members to assess their strengths and needs and together create a leadership development program for each leader.
Weekly Organizing Meetings (Aurora only)
Vision Workshops (starting with Aurora)
Compression and Escalation Workshops (Aurora only)
General Meetings (Denver only) – The weekly general meetings at El Centro’s Denver site
Participatory Film (Denver and Aurora) – A popular education tool for organizing by creating a story board and filming a documentary together.
Political Education (Aurora and Denver)
Legal Clininc Preventive Workshop (Denver only, soon in Aurora) – A train the trainer workshop where workers that come through the legal clinic teach other workers in how to prevent abuses in the workplace.
Board Member Development Training (Denver and Aurora) - Training curriculum for member workers to join Centro Humanitario’s Executive Board