As a former History and Ethnic Studies student at Oregon State University and graduate of Portland State University I can honestly state that I never expected to earn a living by educating Portland residents on the marvels of homeownership. I also never expected to be asked by my employer to provide support to help them reach the goal of owning their own home. However, looking back, a combination of good fortune and the desire to take on new challenges has allowed for a fruitful transition into my current position as outreach coordinator and pre-purchase coach at Proud Ground, Oregon’s largest community land trust organization.

As Proud Ground’s community outreach coordinator, I have been able to take the project management, leadership development, and inter-personal communication skills that I began honing many years ago in Corvallis and apply them to a successful outreach career in Portland. In the past two years, with my efforts and those of my organizations wonderful staff, Proud Ground has been able to offer detailed intro to homeownership instruction to hundreds of families and individuals. In 2011 alone, we offered over 100 classes with over 300 attendees;
of those participants, 60% self-identified as members from communities of color with 27% identifying as Hispanic/Latino. In my profession, multicultural experience is key and engagement with Portland’s growing and diversifying population are as common as riding your bicycle down the bike lane of Portland’s city streets.

Leveraging college connections
To my surprise, since I began my career in Portland’s non-profit affordable homeownership sector, I’ve encountered some familiar faces. Most recently I ran into Carlos Garcia, OSU alumni (2008), and Yesika Arevalo. Both Carlos and Yesika are long time friends whom I met in Corvallis in my college days. Currently, Carlos Garcia is serving at Hacienda CDC in their homeownership program as home buying coach while Yesika works at NEDCO (Neighborhood Economic Development Corp) as their financial counselor specialist. It was a great privilege and quite a surprise to find them at last September’s Hispanic heritage breakfast in Salem. At the event, we all managed to sit at the same table. Each of us were there representing our respective home ownership development agencies. Nostalgia definitely set in as that moment took me back to memories of my OSU days when fellow MEChistAs such as Carlos, Octaviano Merecias and San Juana Acosta amongst others, would gather in the second floor of the Valley library to crack jokes and share Chismes (gossip) during study hall. What a joy it was to share that moment together last year and discover how the three of us, each in our own distinct and intriguing ways, were able to literally and figuratively “share the table” as accomplished Latino professionals making a difference in Oregon’s homeownership industry.

Looking forward
This January, Carlos convened another reunion for the three of us along with another Latino professional working as a case manager for residents of a public housing agency. The gathering looks to convene other Latino’s in the housing and homeownership industry. This first meeting was refreshing and motivational in that it allows us to share information, ideas, and suggestions on how to improve our work. These meetings will also give us the ability to support the Latino community with information on access and resources available to help them achieve their goals. In my opinion, grassroots networking is what community economic development is currently lacking. Latino professionals can serve as the conduit of information to others. If this occurs then every community member can start their path to accessing resources designated for bettering the living conditions for all members of that community. It’s not farfetched to
believe that a handful of passionate Latinos and Latinas can serve as the catalyst for equitable economic development in Oregon’s mid-Willamette Valley.

Sharing life lessons
Ultimately, for many Latino’s with a passion for giving back to the community, personal and professional goals often align themselves quite closely. I feel that my personal career growth serves as an example of this. Although I’m not teaching social studies to high school students, as was my plan during my OSU days, I am doing what drew me to education in the first place. What drove me to education was the desire to present valuable information in a classroom setting to folks who can use what they learn in a practical way and to improve their lives and those of their family. In that sense, I’ve found a way to do what I love, what I’ve always meant to do, and get paid for it. I don’t know what else a young professional could ask for in today’s job market.

To learn more about Proud Connect, connect over on Facebook and on Twitter. Oh, and we do a Pupusa fundraiser here and there.

Edward Gutierrez is the Community Outreach Coordinator at Portland, OR-based Proud Ground, an affordable housing solution for area families and can be reached by email and on Facebook.

The best career manager is not your neighbor or your current boss. Nope, not even close. The best career manager is you. Yes, you. Only you can weigh your options and choices for careers. You might have a close advisor that provides counsel from time to time. You might even have other an 800 lb gorilla within your organization or just outside pulling for you, but for the most part its all you. Many of us don’t realize this until its too late. We let others determine and choose our destiny for us. We let others disrupt our day, our afternoon and weekend. By blindly going into work every day without our antennas on, we don’t realize that the organization is changing, federal statutes and budgets are changing, that at a moments notice, the rug is pulled from underneath us. We’re bombarded with incoming information and we suffer from filter overload and short-term thinking.

Look around. Where are the rugs? Who is on your left or right flank that can help you get where you want to go? Where can you best position yourself today for the next assignment tomorrow? The best career manager hands down is you. Utilize him/her.

David Molina is the Founder and CEO of BilingualHire, a Portland, OR-based bilingual staffing services company focused on advancing the careers of bilingual [Spanish+ English] talent. Molina can be reached via email or you can connect w/ David over on Twitter.

Marco’s email:

“I have just begun a new position as Deputy Director of the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics. I am honored to serve President Obama and his Administration in this role, and am am excited to embark on this new adventure with the outstanding initiative team.”

I’m so excited for Marco! This is an unbelievable opportunity not just for him but for everyone on the team. Marco brings extraordinary love for the community and this unrelenting belief that education is the key to a brighter future no matter where you were born, raised and if English was your second language. I can’t wait to work w/ Marco.

Visit their website, and join the conversation on Twitter and Facebook, today.