We are in need of a complete shake-up and wake-up in terms of what we expect from our leaders and what we will accept. The recent news of Representative Foley is sickening and the response on Capitol Hill is beyond maddening. This is the guy that was in charge of setting the policy agenda for protecting all of our children.
Shining a red-hot light on such predatory behavior wherever it happens is the first step to accountability. And holding powerful people’s feet to the fire is key.
Highlighting leaders and organizations that are actually working to protect the rights and safety of our girls and boys is part of the solution. To buoy your belief in human nature, here are just a few examples of what I would call real leadership:
Elizabeth Jones – who broke the cycle of poverty, graduated from the police academy and is now a police officer in Washington, DC. She has just celebrated the graduation of her daughter from college.
Veronica Nolan – who works 24/7 at the Urban Alliance Foundation to provide critical support and mentoring to young mothers raising their kids and staying in school to complete their nursing degree.
Gustavo Torres – and his entire team at CASA of MD that are not afraid to speak out and provide job and worker rights trainings for hundreds of Latinas and Latinos.
Barbara Fox Mason – who built the Child and Family Network Centers from scratch to ensure that our most vulnerable children have access to early education opportunities – even when there is no funding support.
These are the leaders who are the backbone of our community, and quite frankly our country. Wouldn’t it be great to turn the table upside down and see leaders like Elizabeth, Veronica, Gustavo and Barbara set the agenda.
