The culmination of the Spring Civic Engagement 101 course and BoricuActivated’s culminating event celebrated its fourth (4th) year of partnership with Esperanza Academy.

Expressing gratitude to the Reverend Luis Cortés, Jr., Founder, President and CEO of Esperanza , Jennice Fuentes stated, «For believing in our mission to empower youth through civic engagement and for giving us the privilege of teaching Esperanza students the importance of advocating for the issues that matter most to them.”

Fuentes, the Founder of BoricuActivated, remains deeply focused on her mission: to train communities across the United States who wish to better understand how the relationship with elected officials works. “Sometimes people vote or register to vote, candidates get elected, and until the next election, nothing is known. With this initiative, the goal is for students to start establishing that essential dialogue through training and civic engagement,” the founder explained.

Rev. Luis Cortés remarked, “Among the public servants present, many of them worked at Esperanza, and they, along with everyone at the event, share something in common: the commitment to serve the community, even beyond here. When you’re from Esperanza, you can take leadership, represent your community and neighborhood’s interests, and be part of the U.S. government process.”

The event was dynamic as students had the opportunity to take notes, exchange impressions, make requests, and ask for answers for nearly 20 minutes. Afterward, each elected official or their staff members discussed the actions necessary to address the students’ concerns.

Among the elected officials and/or representatives present were: Scott Heppard (Chief of Staff) – Office of Congressman Brendan Boyle, Tyrone Manning (Advocacy Affairs Manager) – Office of Senator Art Haywood, Beth Connor (Constituent Advocate) – Office of Senator Dave McCormick, Kathryn McKenzie-Zeigler (Congressional Aide) – Office of Representative Dwight Evans, Quetcy Lozada (Councilmember of the 7th District), Eduardo Ramírez (Constituent Services Advisor) – Office of Representative Danilo Burgos, and William Garcia (Director of Latino Engagement) – Office of the Mayor of Philadelphia.

The event served to honor a group of students by presenting them with certificates as a mark of completing the training held over the past three weeks, which essentially brought government to them through their representatives. Without a doubt, they will now put the skills they’ve learned into practice. For those interested in learning about upcoming workshops and projects, visit: www.boricuactivated.org or follow Instagram  @boricuactivated