Developing new immigrant leaders through training, labor-community partnerships and campaigns.
We collaborate with union and community partners to build committees of immigrant community members. Through leadership development, campaigns and activities, we identify community members as agents of change – in their workplaces, in their lives and in the neighborhoods in which they live.
About You
Section 1: You
First Name
Amy
Last Name
Sugimori
Website URL
Organization
La Fuente
Country
United States
Section 2: Your Organization
Organization Name
La Fuente
Organization Website
Organization Phone
212-388-3208
Organization Address
101 Avenue of the Americas, 17th Floor, NY, NY 10013
Is your organization a
Non‐profit/NGO/citizen sector organization
Organization Country
United States, NY
Your idea
Name Your Project
Developing new immigrant leaders through training, labor-community partnerships and campaigns.
Country and state your work focuses on
United States, NY
Describe Your Idea
We collaborate with union and community partners to build committees of immigrant community members. Through leadership development, campaigns and activities, we identify community members as agents of change – in their workplaces, in their lives and in the neighborhoods in which they live.
Website URL
Innovation
What makes your idea unique?
Our model of labor-community collaboration is unique because it goes beyond an institutional or coalitional model of working together. Rank-and-file union members work side by side by their neighbors and fellow community members on a person-to-person level. At the same time, union members, church members and other members of institutions learn how they can bring the power of their institutions to effect change in their neighborhoods and in their lives.
Our explicit theory of change is that base building, combined with leadership development of working-class community members and deep work in collaboration with partners, results in transformation. We contribute to social change by building bases of organized people in low-wage communities of color; helping members to develop their analysis and skills as leaders; collaborating deeply with other community-based organizations; and bringing the power of unions into the communities where their members live.
Because low-wage communities of color are often pitted against each other, we choose campaigns that help build a broader movement that unifies communities of color and builds a sense of solidarity across racial and ethnic barriers. We see our work as part of a national and global struggle for justice; through educational programs and through campaign work we make connections between our campaigns and the civil rights and human rights movements in the US and at the global level.
Do you have a patent for this idea?
No
Impact
This Entry is about (Issues)
What impact have you had?
Over the past year alone, La Fuente’s projects, the New York and Long Island Civic Participation Projects (NYCPP/LICPP), developed hundreds of skilled leaders through and practical workshops and trainings, local campaign work, and state and federal advocacy:
Over 200 immigrant community members participated in our formal workshops in trainings. A number of the formal workshops were planned and facilitated by member leaders with staff support. Community members also put new skills into practice through outreach and campaign work.
In Upper Manhattan, members involved hundreds of new community members in activism through house visits and public education about childhood obesity and diabetes. We teamed up with unions, local allies, Columbia Presbyterian Hospital and Olympic gold medalist Kevin Young to engage local parents and children in a summer 2009 health fair and walk to raise awareness.
In the Bronx, we celebrated the official ground-breaking of the soon-to-be-renovated Fox Playground in November 2009. This renovation was the result of members cleaning up the old playground, working with City University of New York (CUNY) design students to draw a blueprint for a new park and persuading the local community board and local politicians to approve a renovation and the funds to pay for it.
On Long Island, community members pushed for and realized the implementation of the Request-a-Stop policy by MTA Long Island Bus and improved public lighting in the Village of Hempstead, through letters, phone calls and visits with local officials.
Members also traveled to Albany and Washington, DC and met with their elected officials at all levels to educate them about community needs relating to public schools and immigration reform.
Problem
Working class immigrant communities face a number of obstacles in terms of access to public resources (parks, libraries, community boards, high quality public education). Moreover, neighborhoods made up of immigrants face challenges due to the dysfunction of our immigration system. At the same time, there are still not enough community members with the confidence and skills to take on leadership roles in their neighborhood. Through membership development and partnership with powerful institutions – such as unions and faith institutions- to which our members belong, we are working to change that.
Actions
We regularly involve community members in regular neighborhood meetings, campaign activities and formal workshops to engage them and work with them to develop their leadership skills. Member leaders exercise leadership through campaigns aimed at encouraging more civic participation in their neighborhoods, pushing for more just access to public resources and for civil and human rights for immigrant community members. The biggest challenge to our approach is that it is labor-intensive and requires us to inspire and maintain the engagement of growing numbers of community members.
Results
We have already seen the fruits of our model through the leaders we have developed and the campaigns we have won. We plan to build on this success by providing opportunities for new community leaders to take on new roles in their neighborhoods and in campaigns each year. These leaders will identify and take steps to address neighborhood issues while at the same time working for a more just immigration system and improved educational opportunities for all children.
What will it take for your project to be successful over the next three years? Please address each year separately, if possible.
We have developed a strong model in New York City and successfully replicated it on Long Island. In order to be successful, we need to continue expanding our reach to more community members and building our sustainability.
In one year, we need to work intensively with community member leaders to take on leadership and mentorship roles, inspiring and training new cohorts of community members to participate in civic life. This includes having member leaders: plan and facilitate workshops and trainings, develop and follow democratic decision-making procedures, and plan and implement local campaign strategies.
In two years, we need to expand our organizational capacity and structure to be able to engage and continue to advance leadership development of growing numbers of community members in a growing number of locations. This includes: building our staff capacity; developing and building on partnerships to enhance the leadership development tools and vehicles we can provide; looking at ways to share administrative capacity with partners; and identifying new community members to engage.
In three years, we need to assess how leadership development has transformed communities and build and improve on our successes. This includes: identifying how participation in our projects has resulted in community members taking on concrete leadership roles; identifying campaign successes and how they have improved life for community residents; and identifying how our workshops and leadership development have contributed to these two outcomes. We then need to build and improve on what we do.
What would prevent your project from being a success?
Movement building is incredibly difficult work and requires a serious commitment to building trust, developing fair and transparent decision-making structures, and overcoming differences – both real and perceived. We experience this at the micro level through our own committees and campaigns. We are regularly reminded of the importance of developing shared ground rules, following agreed-upon procedures for decision-making and taking the time to teach and learn about different cultures (whether institutional – such as a particular union’s culture, or ethnic or religious).
Adding to this perpetual challenge is the reality we are all facing, as individuals and institutions in the wake of a major economic downturn. Many grassroots community members have already lost income if not their jobs or homes. One of the unfortunate by-products of this is the heightened levels of stress and potential for burnout among community members who are trying to maintain their livelihood and continue to be active in their communities as well.
How many people will your project serve annually?
1001‐10,000
What is the average monthly household income in your target community, in US Dollars?
$1000 - 4000
Does your project seek to have an impact on public policy?
Yes
Sustainability
What stage is your project in?
Operating for 1‐5 years
In what country?
United States, NY
Is your initiative connected to an established organization?
Yes
If yes, provide organization name.
La Fuente
How long has this organization been operating?
More than 5 years
Does your organization have a Board of Directors or an Advisory Board?
Yes
Does your organization have any non-monetary partnerships with NGOs?
Yes
Does your organization have any non-monetary partnerships with businesses?
No
Does your organization have any non-monetary partnerships with government?
No
Please tell us more about how these partnerships are critical to the success of your innovation.
Deep partnerships are essential to our work. Currently, we partner most closely with labor unions, community organizations, civil rights and faith-based organizations. By partnering closely with institutions like unions and faith based organizations, we identify members who are interested in becoming more active in civic life, and who want to develop their leadership. By partnering with other community organizations and civil rights groups, members who are active in our projects are able to build coalitions and collaborative campaigns that have a broader impact in their neighborhoods. We also look for ways we can share our capacity with our community allies: by offering our workshops; by sharing our training modules and looking for ways to share other resources such as meeting rooms and buses.
What are the three most important actions needed to grow your initiative or organization?
a) We need to learn from our successes and develop our strengths. We must undergo qualitative and quantitative analysis of how our work so far has enabled us to meet our goals and how we can focus on and emphasize what we do well. This includes how we reach out to community members and work with members to reach out to others; how participation in our projects results in community members taking on new leadership roles; how our projects’ campaigns result in concrete changes that improve members’ lives and their communities.
b) We need to expand our capacity through building more members’ ability to take on leadership roles and to identify, train and mentor new leaders.
c) We need to continuously improve our staff capacity through professional development and re-evaluation of our roles and work plans to ensure that we are maximizing our potential.
The Story
What was the defining moment that led you to this innovation?
Our first project, NYCPP was conceived in the aftermath of Sepember 11, 2001. Immigrant communities and our partner unions were impacted by the loss of members and relatives on that day and then by the loss of jobs and wages in the subsequent economic downturn. At the same time, immigrant community members were also impacted by the policy changes and immigration enforcement that followed. This was a defining moment in which we realized that there were not enough immigrant community voices speaking for themselves in policy debates. We also realized that while some unions had many immigrant members, they were focusing on job conditions, not on immigrant neighborhoods. The project was developed as a vehicle for immigrant community and union members to become spokespeople and agents of positive change and for unions and other institutions to devote resources and support to neighborhood-level initiatives.
Tell us about the social innovator behind this idea.
Our projects were, from the start, a collaborative effort. Rather than being the brainchild of one individual, they were the fruits of different stakeholders coming together. The original groups that met to develop the NYCPP were 3 unions, a community group and a policy advocacy organization: 32BJ SEIU, DC37 AFSCME, UNITE HERE Local 100, Make the Road by Walking and the National Employment Law Project. The first action of the project was to build a member committee in Washington Heights. The members who became part of that committee became initial leaders in the organization and helped shape its direction and focus. The projects have continued to evolve as collective efforts of community members and organizational stakeholders.
How did you first hear about Changemakers?
Newsletter from Changemakers
If through another, please provide the name of the organization or company
50 words or fewer
 | 112 weeks agoAmy Sugimori said: Hi Cynthia: Yes, we have actually collaborated with the Touchstone Center for Collaborative Inquiry on a study of our leadership ... about this Competition Entry. - read more > |
| 112 weeks agoCynthia Drayton said: Hi Amy, I enjoyed reading about your initiative, identifying potential community leaders and nurturing their leadership skills, ... about this Competition Entry. - read more > |
| 113 weeks agoAmy Sugimori said: Hi Alexis: Sure! A good example is the evolution of the South Bronx campaign to improve Fox Playground: Members of our Bronx ... about this Competition Entry. - read more > |
| 113 weeks agoAlexis Ditkowsky said: Hi Amy, I loved reading about how you are developing leaders from immigrant communities and was wondering if you could highlight a ... about this Competition Entry. - read more > |
| 113 weeks agoAmy Sugimori updated this Competition Entry. |
| 113 weeks agoAmy Sugimori submitted this idea. |
