There are three types of individuals. When I first attended U.S. Army Boot Camp at Fort Sill, Oklahoma as a Private in 2000, the drill sergeants drilled it in us that there are three types of individuals: 1. those that make things happen, 2. those that watch things happen, and 3. those that wondered what just happened. I'll leave out the expletives, but you get the just. Seth Godin argues that there is the frightened, clueless or uniformed. I don't buy that everyone is not cut out for leadership. Nor do I buy the argument that everyone can't make things happen. The thing is I think it has more to do with observation, training and coaching than anything else. Try it sometime. Observe others and listen to what their challenges are. Listen intently to the roots of the problem. Jump into the conversation, make it kinetic, and act as if no one is watching or who gets the credit (this can be challenging). Bounce ideas, and if possible train and prepare them on their challenges. Don't just … [Read more...]

By the time I post this, we'll have safely landed back in Portland, Oregon from Chicago via Las Vegas. The Oregon USHLI delegation will have completed their visit to the Windy City and most importantly having attended the United States Hispanic Leadership Institute (USHLI), Annual National Convention. The 4-day conference has been an incredible, enlightning, inspiring and most rewarding time for our delegation. Click here to view the USHLI 2010 photo album I posted over on Flickr. As an old professor, J. Angelica Hernandez once told me, "spread your wings, but make sure you bring others with you." Adelante: The Time Is Now. The overall conference theme embodied the true sense of urgency of our involvement in today's political process. The time is now to run for office as New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson put it. As Ambassador Carmen Lomellin told the participants of the need for more Latinas and Latinos as Foreign Affairs Officers in the U.S. State Department. As Oregon Benton … [Read more...]

“Hey David, need your help in identifying at least 10 Latino student-leaders to send to USHLI in Chicago next month...” What started as a small conversation between Benton County District Attorney John Haroldson (disclaimer: he and I serve on the OSU Board of Visitors) and I is now reality. We’re enroute to the United States Hispanic Leadership Institute (USHLI), Annual National Convention in Chicago. USHLI prides itself in developing, training, and educating America’s future Latino student-leaders in leadership, policy and career opportunities through its workshop seminars, keynote speakers, career and college fair. Over 2,000+ Latino student, community, governmental and business leaders from across the country are expected to converge at the Sheraton Chicago Hotel & Towers for a 4-day event this week. The Oregonian students selected were nominated, and pre-screened by educators, counselors and their peers. After intensive deadlines, non-stop phone calls and … [Read more...]

Dear MEChA de Portland State University, Thank you again for the invitation to keynote at your 2010 Edúcate Conference. It was an extreme pleasure, honor and privilege to speak before 350+ Chicana/o and Latina/o motivated high school students, from Hillsboro to Hood River and south to Woodburn. The well-organized conference and attendance was incredible and the workshop feedback I received was all positive. I commend your chapter and the presenters for your passionate efforts, self-less service to others, and desire to see all students pursue their dreams. The conference in and of itself is symbolic in that it opens the doors to bilingual students whom many for the first time are setting foot on the grounds of a university, the sons and daughters of some of the hardest working Oregonians. Bilingual talent that must be educated, developed and trained in leadership to advance Oregon. This is the kind of hard grunt work that is required, but necessary, and your chapters' leadership … [Read more...]

Tomorrow morning, I will be speaking before hundreds of students of color, primarily Chicana/o and Latina/o students at Portland State University for the MEChA chapters' 2010 Edúcate Conference. The leadership invited me to keynote and will last 15 minutes. The intent of the day-long activities is to motivate, inspire and provide opportunities to the participating students. From the keynote to the workshop presenters and college/career fair, the conference is a reminder that MEChA stands for educational opportunities for all and strives to provide minority communities access to the university. The audience will primarily be a mix of first-generation students with majority attending public schools in the greater Portland-metro area, but I understand some will be coming from a distance. I'm not going to talk numbers and how many Latina/o students in particular drop-out. These we know. But I will have an awesome responsibility, one that I take very seriously. I've been asked to … [Read more...]

Face it. Recruiting anyone for a position is an intensive process. You must develop and tailor the job description. Form a search committee to interview the candidates. Advertise the posting. Boil 300 resumes down to a manageable 10 that you will phone interview. Down to the top 5 candidates to invite to interview. Only to find out you may be left with 3, because 2 candidates are no longer interested and have accepted job offers elsewhere. On top of that, those candidates went in and failed to prepare for the interview, or not. In the end, you may not have any candidates who are bilingual. Some organizations may try to deploy their 2-3 staff on hand that are bilingual to share the position with their colleagues and close friends. For some employers this might work. Deploying your existing bilingual staff, depending on the size of their network and the time they have been allocated to the task, may be one of the smartest and most cost-effective choices available to some … [Read more...]