Fernando Mejia Ledesma

Why Grassroots Organizing in Community Colleges is the Key to Transforming Higher Education & Defending Democracy

In Washington state, we are fighting back against the right-wing attack on higher education. Students and organizers from a multi-racial student-centered organizing project will share their experiences building a strong student center coalition that has won several piece of statewide legislation including: Mandating that each of the 34 Community and Technical Colleges centers equity in their strategic planning process, expansion of full-time faculty positions, support for mental health services, having benefit hubs navigators on every campus, access to professional licenses regardless of immigration status, childcare services for immigrant students, and changing residency requirements from three years to one year for all undocumented students. Students will share how they have become powerful in shaping investments in Community Colleges across Washington. We will engage participants in a discussion about how the right-wing is reshaping access to higher education and what strategies we can build to reframe the debate and advance a set of progressive policies across the states. In addition, we want to examine the national landscape and advance the demand for free community colleges across the country.

Visionary Practices for Community of Color Power & Ownership

What are the possibilities when communities of color work collectively across-race to deepen shared power, organize and develop future-forward democratizing practices and structures that offer a vision for true democracy and transformation with racial justice as the horizon?

In this session community leaders from local coalitions and networks will present a snapshot of the vision, values, culture and practices that are informing this push for community ownership of the institutions that determine their lives. Multi-sectoral efforts for racial justice necessitate the development of new democratic practices that place r transformation at the front and center, along with prioritizing of transparency, accountability, and deeper relationships – centering bold solutions for the long haul.

Speakers TBD but will include representatives from local coalitions and networks in the Puget Sound and Northern California who are building multiracial power for racial justice and transformation in their communities. The session will be supported by Fernando Mejia Ledesma, Co-executive Director of Puget Sound SAGE and Jesse Villalobos from Race Forward’s Place-Based Initiatives, who works to support local racial justice networks in deepening their collective power to bring bold vision into fruition.