Grantee Spotlight
Chicana Latina Foundation
“I love being a part of this community,” says Adriana Ayala, Executive Director of first-time PACF grantee Chicana Latina Foundation (CLF) and professor of history of ethnic studies.
CLF was founded in 1977 by three Latinas attending the University of California, Berkeley who wanted to make higher education accessible for Latinas. Wanting the landscape to look different, they each contributed a couple hundred dollars of their own money, pooling those funds to create the first-ever CLF scholarship. Today, they provide more than 45 scholarships to community, undergraduate, or graduate students across Santa Clara and twelve other Bay Area counties—investing in Latinas who are committed to investing in themselves and who have a demonstrated desire to give back to their community.
In 2006, CLF recognized it could do more than just provide financial resources and launched the Leadership Institute, offering workshops throughout the year and a retreat that fosters cultural identity and belonging, service leadership, and connects scholars with Latine leaders. The Institute goes beyond traditional leadership development and skill-building, embracing the whole person and providing a healing, nurturing environment for women in the program to explore, craft, and find empowerment in their own story.
“We want them to embrace all of who they are: their culture, language, heritage, sexuality, their immigrant status, or working-class background. We want them to honor all of who they are, to own it, and become authentic leaders in that way.”
The retreat also showcases inspirational speakers and welcomes alumnae—doctors, attorneys, activists, and more—who return as mentors, inspiring the next generation with their unique pathway to success. The Institute also offers Semillas, or the Seeds Program, a one-day leadership development program that expands its reach to roughly 75 students each year.
“This year is our 20th anniversary of having the Leadership Institute. It has become the cornerstone now of what we do,” Adriana explains. “We have three pillars: to cultivate leaders, build community, and most importantly, to ensure equity in education. We want to promote leaders that are conscientious, lideres de conciencia, and that means leaders that have a stake in their community and come back to uplift others as we've helped to lift them.”
And they do. In a way that feels rare, even in our social good sector, CLF alumnae remain engaged with the organization and with each other long-term.
Adriana herself is a great example of this lasting relationship with the organization. A recipient of a CLF scholarship in 1993 that helped her during graduate school, she went on to have great success as an educator, later becoming a member of the Board of Directors for CLF, and coming full circle by stepping into her role as Executive Director. “I felt the power of the feminist women that interviewed me, that invested in my education,” Adriana says recalling her first impressions of the organization. “I was honored that they would take time out of their busy day to interview me, to give back, and that has stayed with me. I definitely stand on their shoulders in terms of continuing this tradition of CLF.”
CLF alumnae show up with their families at events big and small, like CLF’s Colibrí—a hummingbird caminata, or walk, where the greater community comes together in nature to exercise and check in with one another—and participate in the Alumna Network. Through this Alumna Network, CLF scholars are able to connect to ongoing career development and advancement coaching, opportunities to engage in civic and political education, community wellness resources, and peer support and networking opportunities. By championing both personal and professional growth alongside a deep sense of connection and civic responsibility, CLF has developed a circular ecosystem and robust network that carries their mission forward.
“We all want to belong to something special, right? What can we do to make an impact and leave a legacy? And I think we're all trying to find the community where we can do this. To connect with people doing work that matters. That is based in social justice, that is based in equity, and that human value of supporting others—I think that's what keeps our alumna returning, because we are a community-based organization. We're in the trenches. We do things together. We believe in each other.”
Similarly, CLF remains engaged with its alumnae, proactively seeking ways to support them in their careers and remaining a partner in their big ideas and efforts to advance lasting policy change. These relationships drive much of CLF’s advocacy work, including collaborations with fellow PACF grantee El Concilio of San Mateo County, Latinxs and the Environment Initiative, and Black Lives Matter, among others.
We are honored to welcome CLF to the PACF community and to support Latinas on their journeys through higher education and beyond with their first annual grant. “The funding has truly been impactful, especially over the last year as foundations and corporations have pulled back funding in many cases, deciding to no longer fund women, or ethno-racial or social justice causes—you know, DEI,” says Adriana. “Having the Palo Alto Community Fund inject funding into CLF for all of those same reasons is wonderful, and they are doing it because they see it's important. Higher education is important. It's our future … This infusion of funds has been just an infusion of confidence that we're on the right track.”
If you want to get involved and support this special work, CLF invites you to sign up as a volunteer for their next scholarship application process as an evaluator or interviewer, or what Adriana considers a slept-on fountain of youth—giving back and getting back. “In the end, you're gonna feel like, ‘wow, this is amazing that I did this. My future is good in the good hands of this next generation.’”