Leadership Seminars

“Leadership is about listening and being responsible to the people you represent, and politics is the art of making peoples’ lives better. When we partner together, the impossible becomes possible.” –Rob Bonta

Assembly member Rob Bonta joined our youth and staff for an online leadership seminar. The discussion included the importance of listening in leadership, the strength of creating inter-generational and community collaborations and his view that while youth are the leaders of tomorrow, more importantly, they are the leaders of today.

Rob Bonta has served in the California State Assembly for eight years, representing Oakland, Alameda and San Leandro. Prior to the Assembly, he was an Alameda City Councilmember. He is the current Chair of the California Asian & Pacific Islander Legislative Caucus and was the first Filipino-American ever elected to the California Legislature.

The Freedom Center continues to turn on a dime, increasing our online classes and sessions during the shelter-in-place order. We are bringing experts from around the world with feet-on-the-ground experience in organizing, civic engagement and public service together with our youth and staff.

This is an excellent time to study the relevance and importance of transforming ourselves to make change in the world.

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“It’s hard to be a leader when you have a cold heart.”

Bettie Mae Fikes’ voice has helped sustain the moral and cultural power of the Civil Rights movement for 60 years. She has dedicated her life to the power of meaningful music to energize and focus the movement and the importance of spirituality to carry its principles forward.

She joined our youth and staff for an online leadership seminar focusing on the role of music in bringing people together, helping to organize them for social change.

Born in Selma, Bettie Mae Fikes began singing gospel alongside her mother at age 4 and is descended from a long line of country gospel singers and preachers. At the age of 16 she became a student leader for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in the Civil Rights Movement, emerging as a music leader. She was jailed for several weeks in 1963 for protesting during the voting rights struggle in Selma.

ICL The Freedom Center continues to turn on a dime, increasing our online classes and sessions during the shelter-in-place order. We are bringing experts from around the world with feet-on-the-ground experience in organizing, civic engagement and public service together with our youth and staff.

This is an excellent time to study the relevance and importance of transforming ourselves to make change in the world.

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“If we don’t do it, it won’t get done.” – Conway Collis

Our youth and staff were honored that Conway Collis joined us for an online leadership seminar discussing the impact we all have when speaking out against injustice, and taking action. Positive change is easily within our reach.

Collis is President and CEO of GRACE (Gather, Respect, Advocate, Change, Engage). GRACE is dedicated to reducing child poverty in California. He has been a public servant and advocate for social change for more than four decades.

GRACE is the sponsor of Assembly Bill 1520 (Burke), the Lifting Children and Families Out of Poverty Act, signed into law in 2017. AB 1520, the result of five years of work with over 40 organizations and in-depth research with the Stanford Center on Poverty and Inequality, is a critical first step to reducing child poverty in California.

The Freedom Center continues to turn on a dime, increasing our online classes and sessions during the shelter-in-place order. We are bringing experts from around the world with feet-on-the-ground experience in organizing, civic engagement and public service together with our youth and staff.

This is an excellent time to study the relevance and importance of transforming ourselves to make change in the world.

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“So much of what has to drive us going forward is taking a look at our history and what our ancestors and our people have come through, how hard they fought.” –Diana Becton

Contra Costa County District Attorney Diana Becton joined our youth and staff for an online leadership seminar to share her wisdom, experience and compassion as a member of the judiciary who leads with compassion and prioritizes health and well-being.

Contra Costa County District Attorney Diana Becton has spent most of her professional career as a judge, lawyer, and manager. She is committed to safeguarding our communities from crimes that threaten our health, well-being, and livelihood, protecting our seniors from financial abuse, and for working on positive outcomes for our youth. DA Becton is the Immediate Past President of the National Association of Women Judges, the nation's leading voice for women in the judiciary. She currently serves as the Chair of the California State Bar Council on Access and Fairness.

A native of California, she is a product of Oakland public schools and a graduate of Golden Gate University School of Law. Most recently, she earned a Masters of Theological Studies at Pacific School of Religion in 2015.

The Freedom Center continues to turn on a dime, increasing our online classes and sessions during the shelter-in-place order. We are bringing experts from around the world with feet-on-the-ground experience in organizing, civic engagement and public service together with our youth and staff.

This is an excellent time to study the relevance and importance of transforming ourselves to make change in the world.

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“It is in crises that we discover who our true leaders are.” --Peralta Community College Trustee Linda Handy

Our youth and staff are grateful to Trustee Linda Handy for an inspiring and insightful online leadership seminar.

Linda Handy has served as a Trustee since 2002 and has a long resume of community service and college administration experience. She has a M.S. in Organizational Development and Analysis from the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University. Handy is a Laney College alumna and a former president of the Oakland Coalition of Congregations.

The Freedom Center continues to turn on a dime, increasing our online classes and sessions during the shelter-in-place order. We are bringing experts from around the world with feet-on-the-ground experience in organizing, civic engagement and public service together with our youth and staff.

This is an excellent time to study the relevance and importance of transforming ourselves to make change in the world.

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“In leadership, sometimes it’s hard, you don’t always get the win right away. You need to put your marker down and keep trying on these issues.” –Representative Kevin McCarty

We are grateful to CA Assemblymember Kevin McCarty for joining us for an online Leadership Seminar in which we discussed the importance of the long haul in civic engagement, pacing ourselves and not giving up on the first try.

Kevin McCarty was elected to the California State Assembly in 2014 and has made historic investments in public education including expanding access to preschool for low and middle income families, providing greater career technical education programs, and increasing student enrollment at our public colleges and universities.
Other legislative priorities include addressing housing affordability, fighting climate change, championing criminal justice reform, curbing gun violence, tackling the opioid crisis and advocating for the middle class.

The Freedom Center continues to turn on a dime, increasing our online classes and sessions during the shelter-in-place order. We are bringing experts from around the world with feet-on-the-ground experience in organizing, civic engagement and public service together with our youth and staff.

This is an excellent time to study the relevance and importance of transforming ourselves to make change in the world.

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“There’s no better time to have a conversation about leadership. Leadership is what is going to bring us to a better America.” –Peggy Wallace Kennedy

We are grateful and humbled that civil rights leaders Peggy Wallace Kennedy and retired Justice Mark Kennedy joined our youth and staff for an online leadership seminar.

They have dedicated their lives going against the tide and times to lead their communities as champions of social justice and a stronger democracy.

The Freedom Center continues to turn on a dime, increasing our online classes and sessions during the shelter-in-place order. We are bringing experts from around the world with feet-on-the-ground experience in organizing, civic engagement and public service together with our youth and staff.

This is an excellent time to study the relevance and importance of transforming ourselves to make change in the world.

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“Leadership is action, not position. Even if you're leading no one else, you're leading yourself.”

Joan Mooney, Executive Director and CEO of The Faith & Politics Institute in Washington DC, came together with our youth and staff for an online leadership seminar.

We discussed how some of the Civil Rights movement’s most successful leaders were everyday young people who stepped forward with courage and willingness to transform themselves to serve others and sacrifice to make positive changes.

Joan Mooney leads The Faith & Politics Institute in fulfilling its mission, working closely with political leaders at the intersection of their values and public service. President Barack Obama nominated Mooney in May 2009 and the U.S. Senate confirmed her to serve as Assistant Secretary of Veterans Affairs, leading Congressional and Legislative Affairs for the second largest federal Department.

The Freedom Center continues to turn on a dime, increasing our online classes and sessions during the shelter-in-place order. We are bringing experts from around the world with feet-on-the-ground experience in organizing, civic engagement and public service together with our youth and staff.

This is an excellent time to study the relevance and importance of transforming ourselves to make change in the world.

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“Make this determination in everything in life: Is an issue bigger than I am?”

–The Hon. Elihu Harris

“If an issue is bigger than you are, stop fighting for yourself and start fighting for somebody else. If an issue includes you but also affects other people, then you’re not just fighting for yourself, you’re fighting for what’s important.”

Mayor Harris joined our youth and staff for an online leadership seminar discussing other-interestedness, choosing your battles, the power of communication, building inter-generational bridges and how politics positively infuses every aspect of life.

The Honorable Elihu M. Harris served as Mayor of Oakland for two terms, from 1991 to 1999. He was a 12-year member of the California State Assembly, during which time he authored the historic 1981 legislation designating Dr. King’s birthday a California State holiday. He served as Chancellor of the Peralta Community College District from 2003 to 2010.

The Freedom Center continues to turn on a dime, with increasing online classes and sessions during the shelter-in-place order. We are bringing experts from around the world with feet-on-the-ground experience in organizing, civic engagement and public service together with our youth and staff.

This is an excellent time to study the relevance and importance of transforming ourselves to make change in the world.

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