San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
CHICANO FEDERATION’S NEW CEO: ‘IT’S DEFINITELY WORK OF THE HEART’
Liz Ramírez sees a reflection of herself in those the nonprofit helps
Liz Ramírez spent the first two months in her role as the new chief executive officer of the Chicano Federation meeting with each of the nonprofit’s 70 staff members.
“Of course, it’s been a whirlwind, but it’s just been super exciting, especially to connect one-onone with the team because they’re so passionate about the work they do,” Ramírez said. “I’m learning so much from them.”
Each meeting, she says, was a way for her to hear first-hand from the people working on the front lines about the real needs in the communities the nonprofit serves.
Whether they are immigrants, first-generation college students or come from low-income backgrounds, she says her team feels personal connections to the federation’s mission. Those connections drive them — much like they do Ramírez herself.
“It’s definitely work of the heart,” she said. “My heart really drives me to make a difference.”
She, too, comes from a low-income, immigrant background. She says that led her to work for more than a decade in the nonprofit sector.
Now, at the Chicano Federation, she hopes to help expand the much-needed programs and services for San Diego families like her own. “My parents remind me so much of the families that we serve,” she said.
The federation works to improve equity in the community by providing neighborhood-based programs and services to San Diego families in need. It also works to bring vital resources to the community, such as its new community resource center in North Park, which Ramírez says is just the start of creating a network of organizations that provide wraparound services. So rather than just offering help with child care, the center might also point people toward financial and housing aid or employment resources.
‘Someone invested in me’
Raised on both sides of the “frontera,” Ramírez describes herself as a border child. She grew up in Mexicali until she was of school age. When she was 5, her family moved to the Imperial Valley so she and her two younger brothers could get a better education.
“My parents have always been about finding opportunities for us, and they realized that education is a key to breaking barriers,” she said.
For a time, Ramírez’s father was the sole breadwinner so her mother could stay home to take care of the kids. Each day, he would cross the border or commute to San Diego from the Imperial Valley for work. Then, when her brothers were old enough to go to school, her mother enrolled in English classes and got her cosmetology license so she could help support the family, too.
Ramírez herself didn’t start to learn English until fourth grade, when she first went into bilingual education. She recognized early on the challenges that come with navigating the system as a first-generation student with scarce resources.
Even in her first year at UC San Diego, Ramírez says she struggled and felt she didn’t belong.
“I had no sense of community, and I think that’s why I’m so passionate about community and mentorship now because I felt like I was an island,” she added.
Through these lived experiences, Ramírez realized she wanted to “help bridge that equity gap and help bring resources, especially to first-generation and lowincome students like myself,” she said.
Since then, Ramírez has been focused on connecting with others — with mentors to show her the way and, in turn, showing others in her community how to get there.
“I really want to invest in folks because someone invested in me,” she said.
The bigger picture
Ramírez did just that for Andrea Martino, whom she supervised while working at the nonprofit SBCS, formerly South Bay Community Services, and has continued to help grow as a professional in the years since, Martino said. Martino has been a sales executive at an escrow company in Chula Vista for nearly four years now.
“She always wanted to understand the bigger picture, like who I am and why I do what I do ... making sure that she understood my priorities and my goals,” Martino said. “She’s always been so supportive and pushed me to grow.”
While at SBCS, Ramírez started out working with youths who were struggling academically. She took on new roles and eventually became the organization’s director of engagement and philanthropy.
“For me, the world of philanthropy was something completely foreign,” she said. “Growing up Latina, you’re not used to asking for money, asking for resources or asking for help, but it came so easy to me because of the fact that I was so connected to the community, and I wanted to advocate for the need.”
After eight years at SBCS, she joined Promises2kids as director of philanthropic operations. She was able to increase funding to help the nonprofit support San Diego’s foster youth.
“She had a passion for the community and really had demonstrated compassion for the youth that we serve,” said Promise2kids CEO Tonya Torosian.
Ramírez recalls a meeting with Torosian last year where she outlined the needs of the organization and what she could do to help reach them.
“Part of what she had wanted to do was really around building culture within the organization,” Torosian recalled. “It was just a perfect fit for her skill set.”
Building partnerships
Ramírez became Promise2kids’ chief impact officer, working on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and advocacy, before she got the opportunity at the Chicano Federation.
“She’s got a really good ability to build partnerships in the community, and I think that’s incredibly important in the nonprofit space,” said Fernando Ponce, the chair of the federation’s board. “We picked somebody that we feel can really grow with the organization.”
Ramírez said that meeting with staff and visiting the federation’s programs made her realize the true breadth of the work the nonprofit does and the impact it has on the community on a daily basis.
Now, she’s working to connect with the federation’s team, community partners, and, most importantly, community members. They will guide the nonprofit’s future, she said.
“I want them to tell us the issues that are affecting their community ... what they need. My hope is to continue to expand community voice in Chicano Federation.”