Miguel Angel Rodriguez. Photo by BB Rivas / El Concilio Family Services
Editor’s note: Part of a continuing series of stories profiling the award-winners of El Concilio Family Service 2013 Latino Leadership Awards. The awards gala will be held on Friday, June 7, 2013 at the Oxnard Performing Arts Center. The event is sold out. Click here or call 805-486-9777 for more information.
Amigos805 staff reports
Miguel Angel Rodriguez was born in Mexico City, migrated to the United States when he was 8 years old and has lived in Ventura County for more than 20 years. He has been organizing for CAUSE in west Ventura for three years and worked to establish the first Latino Leadership Group in the area.
“Through our work this group was able to restore $250k in transportation services to Route 6, save the public library from privatization, stop the fiscally unsound annexation of unincorporated county land, and help fight childhood obesity by pushing for the first-ever community-driven family park in the city of Ventura,” he wrote in his acceptance letter. “Our work has brought in $2 million in outside investment for the promotion of Healthy Eating and Active living in the neighborhood. I have also offered a lot of my time to developing young leaders who, like myself, have adversities to overcome due to financial and social burdens.”
According to one nomination letter, “Miguel represents the best of his generation, as a person and a community leader, and he has become a role model for many, both younger and older than himself.… It is clear that Miguel has inspired a whole cadre of community members who never before saw themselves as leaders, but who are now speaking at city council meetings and taking an active role in shaping their community. Their stories are inspiring, and they credit Miguel with motivating and empowering them to raise their voices and get involved. The mutual respect and appreciation is tangible.… I hope El Concilio will lift up Miguel as an example of what is possible and the kind of leadership we want to foster in the Latino community and beyond.”
For more information on El Concilio’s programs and services, visit www.elconciliofs.org or call 805-486-9777.