Education is the Key to Sucess!

The youth leadership conference started 30 years ago with MannyAlvarado who was the Talent Search Director at Pima College, Ralph Chavez, the Tucson Unified School District Drop-out Prevention Director, David and Cathy Rodriguez, and Mary and Richard Fimbres.

We were losing too many of our youth to the prison system, gangs and the cemetery so dreamt up the Youth Leadership to motivate them to realize how important education is and the need to stay in school, graduate, and hopefully pursue higher education.

For 30 years it has been a labor of love… To date we’ve had over 118,000 students go to the conference.

At the conference we provide a resource fair, workshops and a keynote speaker. Over the years our keynote speakers have included, Paul Rodriguez, George Lopez, Luis Valdez, Tony Plana, Patsy Torres and her Positive Force Tour Band, Lalo Alcaraz to name a few. Last year’s keynote was our very own Jessica Cox. We later learned that she had attended the conference as a Flowing Wells student.  This year’s keynote is Rachel’s Challenge. All the keynotes have emphasized the importance of education and service to our community. We have students that are doctors, business owners, lawyers, firefighters and teachers.

In addition to the conference we have hosted the Educators Banquet where members of our community are recognized for their service. This year we will also host the 30th Annual Educators Banquet.

In the past we have sent many students to the National Youth Leadership Seminar in Washington, DC. For some students this has been a life changing experience. We have sponsored Young Readers programs for children Pre-K through 3rd Grade, Health and Safety Fairs, and Womens’ Conferences to name a few of the programs.

We are grateful to Pima Community College for hosting our students at the West Campus. Thanks to all the volunteers and committee chairs/members. Many of them long term ones; to the sponsors that have helped to keep this conference going for our children for the past thirty years. Many are new each year, but many have been long term as well.   The schools that send the students also deserve a thank you.

Our Purpose: 

LULAC/SAIL have striven to promote, develop, and enhance leadership skills among youth in Pima County. The philosophy behind the Youth Leadership Conference for the last twenty-nine years has been to encourage and motivate students to remain in school, set goals and reinforce education as the key to success.  Another key factor has been to expose students to an environment that fosters positive relationships among peers, teachers and the community.  

Our Challenge: 

Our community and our nation face a major challenge. While Latinos are the largest and fastest growing population in America, they are also least likely to attend college. A great number of Latinos don’t know how to prepare, apply and pay for college. Latinos are still falling behind other groups in vital education indicators like literacy, math, and science proficiency. This is a dangerous combination. With a continuously changing workforce dependent on increased skills and training, Latinos won’t be able to take advantage of the best career opportunities. With more than half of the U.S.’s population growth fueled by the Latino community, the education gap could get much worse if nothing’s done. 

Our Solution: 

Founded in 1988 by LULAC Council #1057, the LULAC Youth Leadership Conference was developed in response to concerns about the state of education and the lack of programs that promoted and developed leadership in middle and high school students.  At the time of its founding, it was believed that schools needed assistance from the community with these key issues. With the cooperation and involvement of local public, private, and charter schools, as well as institutions of higher learning, a nationally recognized program was born to assist students with resources, mentoring and leadership skills thereby equipping them with the necessary tools to help them remain in school, graduate, and further their education.

During its inaugural year, the conference reached 951 youth, a number surpassed in subsequent years to the current attendance level of 1,500 youth in an expanded program targeted at 9th through 12th grade students. To date, the conference has been host to over 118,000 participants. Since that inaugural year our goals have been to promote the importance of learning and individual leadership as vital to all children and to encourage the participation of the community in all facets of this promotion by offering students important prevention strategies, information, and resources for academic and scholarship needs so that they may improve their educational opportunities and achieve their life goals.