Christopher Gil
Associate Director of Marketing and Communications
Mission Economic Development Agency (MEDA)
(415) 282-3334 ext. 152
cgil@medasf.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Feb. 15, 2019
MEDA’s Celina Castro-Saelao and Lucia Obregon Chosen for NALCAB Colegio Fellowships
Program fosters next generation of Latino leaders
San Francisco — The National Association for Latino Community Asset Builders (NALCAB) just announced that two staff of the Mission Economic Development Agency (MEDA) have been named 2019 NALCAB Colegio Community Economic Development Fellows: Mission Promise Neighborhood Family Support Manager Celina Castro-Saelao; and Community Leadership Development Manager Lucia Obregon.
NALCAB’s mission is fulfilled in part through the NALCAB Pete Garcia Community Economic Development Fellowship Program (Pete Garcia Fellowship). Established in 2010, the program was developed to ensure that next-generation Latino leaders build the practical, personal and professional skills needed to fill the increasing leadership gap in the community economic development field. The curriculum is specifically designed to help practitioners become more effective leaders through leadership development, technical training, and facilitating peer networks.
The NALCAB Pete Garcia Fellowship has graduated 117 Latino Leaders from across the country, representing 73 unique nonprofit organizations in 24 states and the District of Columbia. In addition to joining a diverse national network of Latino leaders, NALCAB Pete Garcia Fellowship graduates have meaningfully contributed to their organizations and their field, including taking on executive leadership positions.
Explains Celina Castro-Saelao (photo, left), “To be selected, alongside my colleague, Lucia Obregon, for the NALCAB Pete Garcia Fellowship is an amazing opportunity. I am excited to build my knowledge and put into practice new skills in my community. I look forward to meeting and learning from Latinx leaders taking part of this cohort from across the U.S.”
Echoes Lucia Obregon (photo, right), “I’m excited for the opportunity to meet and learn from other people who do similar work across the nation. This is a chance to elevate my/our work at a national level, as I grow as a leader and an asset builder. I am confident that NALCAB will expand my skill set. I am especially excited because I get to do it with a dear colleague, Celina Castro-Saelao.”
Through this program, NALCAB is addressing a growing need in the next-generation leadership among Latino-serving asset-building organizations. To date, the program has graduated a total of 117 Latino Leaders from across the country, representing 73 unique nonprofit organizations in 24 states and the District of Columbia.
Prior MEDA NALCAB Colegio Fellowships have been awarded to MEDA’s Juan Diego Castro (2015), Laura Ospina (2016) and Ernesto Martinez (2018).
This year the title sponsor is JPMorgan Chase Foundation, with additional funding from the Wells Fargo Housing Foundation and the Southwest Airlines Foundation.
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About Mission Economic Development Agency (MEDA)
Rooted in the Mission and focused on San Francisco, MEDA’s mission is to strengthen low- and moderate-income Latino families by promoting economic equity and social justice through asset building and community development. medasf.org
About NALCAB
National Association for Latino Community Asset Builders (NALCAB) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and represents and serves a geographically and ethnically diverse group of nonprofit community and economic development organizations that are anchor institutions in our nation’s Latino communities. nalcab.org
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