By Elsa Cavazos
Napa Valley News Group

For the first time, thanks to a collaboration between Latino Leaders Roundtable and the Napa County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, three Latino Napa County natives, Marcela Rodriguez, Rigo Nava and Liliana Estrada, are Leadership Napa Valley scholarship recipients.

Leadership Napa Valley began in 1987 as a program supported by the Napa Chamber of Commerce. The program selects participants annually from a list of applicants who undertake a nine-month journey together, learning leadership skills and teamwork as they explore different aspects of Napa County.

Applications are $200 and tuition is $1,950, though employers can sponsor class members. Rodriguez, Nava and Estrada are able to participate free of charge through this new scholarship program.

The purpose of Leadership Napa Valley is to train and inspire new leadership, and employers often suggest the program for individuals in whom they see great potential, which was the case for this trio. Although Leadership Napa Valley has had Latino participants before, this is the first time they have come in through the Latino Leaders Roundtable.

All three recipients come from immigrant families from Mexico and are first-generation college graduates. And the three have been motivated by their families to pursue bigger opportunities. For Rodriguez, it is her grandpa who always encourages her to keep going.

Rodriguez, a Calistoga resident, was born and raised in town. She is the education program manager at UpValley Family Centers. She started with the nonprofit organization six years ago as a youth diversion coordinator, helping offer alternatives to formal processing in the juvenile justice system. She was promoted three years ago.

"I love being able to grow up and give back to the communities that I was born and raised in and who essentially kind of helped shape who I am today," Rodriguez said.

She studied psychology and criminal justice and originally wanted to become a lawyer. During one of her classes at Santa Rosa Junior College, she learned that UpValley Family Centers had a diversion program.

Rodriguez had known about the nonprofit since she was in kindergarten, when the family center was starting up a classroom. In her current education role, she oversees its youth and school programs such as bilingual playgroups in Calistoga and St. Helena and youth mentoring programs, among other school-based services.

Rodriguez said growing up, she often found herself in positions of leadership in Girl Scouts and other student activities. She believes being the eldest of three sisters might be the reason. Being a leader "was something that was just natural," she said.

"I think for me, it's being able to speak up for those that maybe feel like they aren't being heard or don't have a voice or are afraid to use their voice," she said. "I'm proud of where I came from, of who I am, of my culture, of my family. But I do think that there definitely needs to be more people, more representation."

Rodriguez, Nava and Estrada all agreed that the best lesson from the Leadership Napa Valley experience is understanding how connected Napa is and learning about the county. For example, Nava said, at one meeting, they created a mock-up city council meeting.

Nava's story is similar to Rodriguez's. Born and raised in Napa, he studied at Napa Valley College. After earning associate degrees in anthropology and behavioral sciences, he attended UC Davis, where he majored in history and minored in Spanish.

Upon returning to Napa, he worked in the wine industry, which led him to realize he was good at sales, ecommerce and marketing. Nava now has his own marketing company and is also the marketing director for the Napa County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

Returning to NVC to take marketing classes, he said a professor became his mentor and introduced him to the chamber, which led to this marketing opportunity.

"I would ask her; am I wrong in thinking this or that?" Nava said. "Because I really had no reference point of what's right, what's wrong, what's good, what's bad. That was really helpful to learn that and eventually branch out.

"There's no blueprint or like mentorship on how to navigate corporate America," he said.

Estrada is the lead bilingual advocate for NEWS, Napa's domestic violence and sexual abuse shelter. Born in St. Helena and raised in Calistoga, Estrada went to school in St. Helena and now lives in Napa. After majoring in psychology and Chicano studies at UC Davis, she worked as a research assistant focusing on immigrant and farmworker communities.

Estrada described her current role as her first big job after college. Her executive director, who had also taken part in Leadership Napa Valley, told her about the program and encouraged her to apply.

Estrada and Nava agreed that being able to create community and network within the leadership program has been helpful.

"The ability to meet other leaders in the community has made it so that I have not only felt confidence in myself, but confidence to be able to pursue what I need to do in order to advocate for vulnerable populations," Estrada said. "I'm constantly learning what it means to be a leader and what that encompasses and how you can get to that point."

They each have a project to complete in the program. Rodriguez is working with the Napa Valley Vine Trail, Nava is working with nonprofit Molly's Angels and Estrada with the Community Emergency Response Team in Napa.

Estrada emphasized how important it is to have Latinos in programs like these, especially considering the current political climate.

"I think I've just honed my leadership skills and also my confidence," she said. "I came into Leadership Napa Valley feeling like an imposter, like I didn't deserve to be there.

"I feel as a minority, and even as a woman… we don't see ourselves represented that often. I've always felt I had to prove that I deserve to be at university or in a position of leadership. But what I've realized is to step into that space, to take ownership of it, is empowering. And it's not only empowering for yourself, but to other people that look like you," Estrada said.

Molly Rattigan, president of the board of directors for Leadership Napa Valley, said the idea behind partnering with Latino Leaders Round Table, is to continue to provide scholarships "to ensure our class represents the makeup and diversity of our community and that financing isn't a barrier to somebody being able to participate.

"We feel diversity brings new perspectives, brings different perspectives. It brings different learning experiences, different histories, different everything, and difference is good," Rattigan said.

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