As the saying goes: If you love your job, then you’ll never work again.
As the program director for Central Coast Future Leaders (CCFL) in Santa Maria, Patricia Solorio loves her job because she knows she’s making a positive impact on the future of her community.
How exactly? By empowering youth and creating future leaders. CCFL is a Santa Maria-based nonprofit that supports the positive development of high school youth through community service, monthly youth council meetings, career exploration, and other programs.
Although Solorio runs things on the back end of the organization with her trusty administrator Hilda Zacarias, CCFL is essentially a youth-run, youth-led organization. This means that the students make the decisions that drive the nonprofit and ultimately their own futures.
“They are really pushing and driving the agenda,” Solorio said. “It’s true honest ownership in the program.”
She relies on a network of volunteers and alumni, all of which have gone through the program.
CCFL started in 1994 in Santa Maria. Solorio herself began volunteering in 1996. The nonprofit merged with Ventura County-based Future Leaders of America. Solorio became employed with the nonprofit in 2005 and became the program director in 2012 when CCFL became independent again.
One of the main objectives of CCFL is to get students directly into four-year universities right out of high school. Students are encouraged to seek the basic A-G courses, which are the high school credits required for entrance into the University of California and California State University systems.
Other essential leadership skills are developed, like public speaking skills and familiarity with parliamentary procedure.
Many students have gone on to attend four-year universities such as Fresno State, UC Berkeley, Swarthmore, and many other universities.
CCFL alumnus Anahi Mendoza graduated from Harvard University in 2015 and is now a fellow at the Public Policy and International Affairs Program in Washington, D.C.
Other notable alumni include Hazel Putney-Davalos from the Central Coast Alliance United for a Sustainable Economy.
Not just anyone can volunteer at the nonprofit. It’s exclusively reserved for alumni, most of them college students and professionals, who must apply. Although the students technically run the show, the volunteers help lay some of the groundwork for the decision-making process.
Decisions are peer driven, Solorio said, and students receive encouragement and feedback from each other. Meetings are held once per month to plan and devise ways to engage the community through events and service. Each summer, students also participate in a six-day, peer-led summer leadership camp.
Depending on the interest of students, they can take it as far as they want and get into the more “meaty” issues, according to Solorio.
For example, Solorio said one of the topics being discussed is getting a law passed in Santa Maria that will make it illegal for adults to provide a safe place for kids to drink. There’s already such a law in the city, but Solorio believes that it doesn’t have enough teeth.
“They’re pushing back on the myth that it’s better for kids to drink at home,” Solorio said.
How do students get into CCFL? From other students actively involved with the organization. Solorio said it’s often the case that entire families of siblings become involved. Solorio’s son is currently involved, and her daughter will also get involved when she enters her freshman year in high school.
Current members seek diversity in their ranks, meaning they don’t always seek out the straight-A student—not that those students wouldn’t make a good fit.
“We’re always talking about negative peer pressure, but there’s also positive peer pressure,” Solorio said. “CCFL creates a space for that. They really provide each other with that support and try and create change, not with our organization, but going out into the community.”
Central Coast Future Leaders is a Santa Maria-based nonprofit located at 110 S. Lincoln St., suite 103. They’re always looking for donations. To make a donation, visit ccfutureleaders.org or call 925-1010.
Highlights
• Can Santa Maria attract international tourism? The Santa Maria Valley Chamber of Commerce is holding a Tourism Marketing Series featuring Brian Tucker, a representative from the California Travel and Tourism Commission. At the meeting, he’ll be sharing how to work with the commission in attracting visitors from across the globe. The meeting will be held on Nov. 3 from 9-10 a.m. at the Far Western Tavern located at 300 E. Clark Ave. in Orcutt. The meeting is free for chamber members, and $15 for non-members. For more information, contact Gina Keough at 925-2403, Ext. 814, or visit santamariavisitor.com.
Staff Writer David Minsky wrote this week’s Biz Spotlight. Information should be sent to the Sun via fax, email, or mail.
This article appears in Oct 22-29, 2015.