¡LEAD!, Latina/o Empowerment at De Anza, was created by students who wanted a student leadership development course that focused on their own culture and communities.
We started the summer of 2005 with a class of 12 students, focusing on teaching them the history of Latina/os in the Bay Area from the 1700's to the present.
¡LEAD! works with more than 350 students every year in classes ranging from Transfer Level Composition to Chicana/o Literature and Women's Studies classes. We are currently developing LinC classes in collaboration with the Sociology Department.
Every spring we offer our EWRT2 Leadership Development class that allows students to develop their own social justice projects and carry them through from idea to completion.
Accomplishments
In the past six years, LEAD students have also raised more than $5,000 to provide direct support to students who contribute to community service activities at De Anza and in their own communities. This aid is given in the form of book and bus pass vouchers and stipends.
¡LEAD! students have traveled to San Francisco and Sacramento to meet with legislators and protest cuts to the education budget. They have created films on the issues of homosexuality in Latina/o families, and what it means to be an AB540 student at De Anza.
Our students have received the most prestigious scholarships offered at De Anza and have been accepted for transfer to the very best schools in the nation. Members of our first LEAD class have recently been accepted to graduate school, law school, pharmacy school, and to work as interns for state and national legislators and non-profit agencies. To date, LEAD students have earned more than $100,000 in scholarships.
Fill out the form, selecting De Anza College for the program and type LEAD in the blank field.
We appreciate your support and look forward to building more partnerships with students, faculty, professional staff and community partners.
The Goal
¡LEAD! helps students find a connection to our college and their communities and understand how powerful they can be as agents for positive social change.
