SAGINAW, MI — Professional social workers and longtime activists know all about gathering to exchange ideas, and leaders of Saginaw LLEAD are making sure young people share in the experience.
“I had never been to a conference,” said SVSU student Julia Sausedo, after she joined classmate Gabriella Olivarez to take part in the annual meeting of the U.S. Hispanic Leadership Institute in Chicago, with sponsorship from Latino Leaders for the Enhancement of Advocacy and Development.
Julia noted, “There were leaders there from all over the world, and it was an honor to be exposed to their knowledge and experience.”
The gathering drew 5,000 students, educators and young professionals from 35 states.
Olivarez and Sausedo both started at Delta College before they transferred to Saginaw Valley State. They took part in Delta’s Society of Hispanic Leaders student group under advisor Monica Hernandez, and LLEAD’s Angelo Kapp visited to bring forth the opportunity.
“In middle school and high school, I often felt alone,” notes Gabriella, as a Latino involved in student activities, “and so when you learn that there is something available that is for Hispanics, it gets your attention quickly.”
Kapp is a Northwood University business major who expressed similar sentiments, saying he often has found himself “as the only one who looks like me.” His new enterprise, “Nuestra Cultura Multimedia Productions,” aims to promote “building a future for our children.”
Olivarez attended Carrollton High School on Saginaw’s city border, and Sausedo is a product of Bangor John Glenn High in western Bay County, which happens to be the alma mater of Alberto Flores, state LLEAD president. Both students started at Delta College and transferred to Saginaw Valley State, a most affordable local start to higher education.
It wasn’t a LLEAD giveaway. Sausedo and Olivarez faced a requirement to earn their way to four days at the Sheraton Chicago, through extracurricular time and effort devoted to campus activities. Part of this involved listening to their student peers on general concerns such as education, careers and the overall future, along with Latino-oriented specifics like DACA and immigration, and politics.
Workshops explored those topics and others, from first-generation success and enhancing your roots to mental health and community organizing.
A conference promo stated: “Most of the participants are, or will become, the most influential Hispanic leaders of their generation,” adding that they “will help govern our cities, schools, states, and indeed, a nation that will become over 30 percent Hispanic during our lifetimes.”
Neither Sausedo nor Olivarez describe themselves as especially outgoing or outspoken, so they spent most of their time listening. Julia aims for a career in social work, while Gabriella will be a citizen activist while engaged in rehabilitative medicine as an occupational therapist.
Saginaw LLEAD meets on the second monthly Thursday at 6 p.m. at the downtown Delta College campus, and the next session is Dec. 12. There is no membership fee and participants may volunteer in their chosen areas of interest.
A fund-raiser is Dec. 14 at T&T Authentic Mexican, 1302 Court, with proceeds of $5 for every taco dinner donated to LLEAD to help send students to the 2025 conference.
Sausedo learned, “It’s important to hear other people’s stories,” while Olivarez looks forward “to making a place at the table, instead of in the back of the room.”
