Hundreds of promotoras gather for three days of training and leadership empowerment

Friday lunch turned into a dance party at the Sheraton Gateway Hotel in El Segundo when people started dancing to the music of violinist Suemy G. Violin. Nearly a thousand promotoras felt energized as they gathered at the 22nd Annual Conference of Promotoras organized by the non-profit Vision y Compromiso.

The promotores– mainly women–came from all over the nation to the conference, which took place from Thursday to Saturday. They participated in workshops, panels and social events to learn from each other’s work.

Promotoras are caretakers of their community and provide vital information from preconception to death. They are linguistically and culturally knowledgeable, especially in underserved communities. They provide vital information on a wide range of topics, such as health, education, environmental justice, housing and mental health.  

Silvia Albuja is a promotora from North Marin Community Services in northern California.

She knows the importance of having the correct information in your language and from someone you can trust.

She migrated to the U.S. with her husband from Ecuador 33 years ago, and a few months later after arriving, she got pregnant. They were fearful of the immigration system and didn’t look for prenatal care. Six months into her pregnancy, Albuja had a miscarriage. At the hospital, she was told her baby could have been saved if she had received the proper health care on time.

“I didn’t know I could go to a clinic. I didn’t know I could receive help because our countries were different,” said Albuja. “That’s why I know how important this role is.”

Ivonnennnette Machado is a promotora in the MacArthur/Westlake area in Los Angeles. She said she feels she started as a promotora at a young age as a girl scout, then as a caretaker of her loved ones and community.

“I participate in clean-ups, I advocate for housing, jobs and access to health care and vaccines,” said Machado.

She said that in her community, people are in high need of information about tenants' rights, literacy and English as a second language programs.

“We are in charge of letting them know the resources available,” she said.

Touching on important topics

The keynote speaker was Assemblymember Eloise Gomez Reyes (CA-50), who led the California Assembly resolution to recognize October as California Promotora Month.

During the “The Legacy of Promotoras” panel, Barbara Ferrer, Los Angeles County Department of Health director, said people praised her and the department of health for all the work done during the pandemic. However, she emphasized, the promotoras did the real work on the ground.

“You were in the schools, on the streets, in the mercados listening to the needs of your people,” she said.

She said promotoras have a special way of listening and providing information according to their community’s needs.

Other panels and workshops included learning about emotional resilience, a holistic approach to health, palliative care, the autism spectrum and end-of-life care.

Promotoras are often the best liaison to experts, depending on the issue. They know their exact needs because they live there. In order to continue strengthening their leadership skills, Vision y Compromiso, a partner to diverse organizations, agencies and institutions seeking to adopt the promotora model, created the annual conference to empower these promotoras who, on many occasions, volunteer their time or work for a small monthly stipend.

Advocating for equal pay for promotoras

Albuja said while her job is paid, there are many promotoras that do not get paid, either because there is no funding or because they are undocumented. Nonetheless, organizations such as Vision y Compromiso continue fighting for rightful paying work with benefits for promotoras.

Maria Lemus, executive director of Vision y Compromiso, said it is essential to recognize the promotoras’ work. During the pandemic, they were deemed essential workers, but many were not paid the right salary.

“So our advocacy is an equity issue for funds to go to community organizations, which more promotoras are affiliated with and they can get paid the salary and benefits in return,” she said.

A movement that keeps growing

Lemus said wherever you see a Latino community it’s very likely that you will see a promotora because they are our mothers, grandmothers, tias and neighbors.

“A promotora is a woman who has ‘Espiritu de Servicio’ (Spirit of Service),” said Lemus.

While promotoras were once known as the women who passed flyers on the streets announcing the services of a local clinic, now they are trained on issues related to the well-being of the family.

Veronica Arciga-Barriga, senior promotoras network manager for Los Angeles County and Central Coast with Vision y Compromiso, was very proud of the number of people participating. She said it is important for promotoras to see they have support from near and far.

“We help them with training and coaching, advocacy and with this sisterhood network,” said Arciga-Barriga.

She said while the promotoras work has existed for decades, in California there was no space where they could meet and support each other to learn more about how to help their community.

“They felt their work wasn’t validated. Many promotoras that come from other countries and are professionals who can’t work here so they help in other ways,” said Arciga-Barriga.

More celebrations to come

Vision y Compromiso also celebrated California Governor Gavin Newsom's signing of SB445 into law. The law indicates that by January 1, 2027, a template will be available in the top 10 most spoken languages to guide state-standardized Individualized Education Programs (IEP). This plan outlines the support and services a student with disabilities needs to succeed in school.

Promotoras believe this is a step in the right direction because it will allow parents to understand since the guide will be in their native language. The law indicates that school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools will also be notified that the IEP template, including all translated templates, is available on the department’s website.

“It is challenging to come to a different country and have a healthy life, but that’s why we are here,” said Lemus.

Vision y Compromiso awarded five organizations with the new Las Alas Fund for the first time. This is a one-year grant for unrestricted general operating support and capacity building to California small and medium-sized community-based organizations supported and led by promotoras.

The selected organizations are LA Woman, Inc, Puertas Abiertas Community Resource Center, De Colores Resource Center Inc, Corazon y Caracter Inc. and El Concilio of San Mateo County.