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BOSTON CITY HALL
1 CITY HALL SQUARE, ROOM 806BOSTON, MA 02201
Immigrants Lead Boston Lab: From Ideas to Action
Thirteen immigrant leaders make up the first class of Immigrants Lead Boston (ILB) Lab: From Ideas to Action, a program by the Mayor's Office for Immigrant Advancement (MOIA). All 13 participants are alumni who already graduated from Immigrants Lead Boston but want to further develop their skills to train emerging immigrant leaders in languages other than English.
“A leader leads by example and paves the way. I enjoy helping others, being a mentor and inspiring others,” said Marie Ladouceur, a participant from Jamaica Plain. “I am participating in ILB Lab to gain the knowledge and resources to help my peers with their needs. I want to be more involved in my community, and this program is giving me the tools to deepen my ability to access my unique strength and personal power as I break through my self-perceived limits and get me out there with a richer expression of myself as a leader.”
MOIA developed this "train the trainer" curriculum with re:power. For nine weeks, participants refined their skills in meeting facilitation, storytelling linked to public speaking, managing conflicts, and community organizing. Some of the graduates will help MOIA launch the very first Spanish version of Immigrants Lead Boston in the spring of 2024.
The Immigrants Lead Boston Lab: From Ideas to Action Graduation was on August 16, 2023. The graduates represent 13 countries, eight Boston neighborhoods, and speak 13 languages. During the graduation ceremony, people shared their reflections from the program and Mayor Michelle Wu shared her experiences. Watch the graduation and see the pictures.
Meet the Participants
Meet the Participants
Why are you participating in Immigrants Lead Boston Lab?
"To learn how to better organize an organization /community. To help identify what challenges my community faces, and to learn how to be able to work with the community or group of people to overcome the challenges."
What action do you plan on taking after being part of ILB Lab?
"My plan is to work with my organization/community to overcome the challenges we face everyday."
Why are you participating in Immigrants Lead Boston Lab?
"Being an effective community leader comes with responsibilities that require substantial skills such as campaign and community organizing, effective communication, and a spirit of civic engagement. I decided to be a participant in the program in order to acquire the stated skills and be able to apply them when addressing community issues."
What action do you plan on taking after being part of ILB Lab?
"I intend to join one more community organizations that focuses on helping immigrant communities throughout their integration process in the city of Boston."
Why are you participating in Immigrants Lead Boston Lab?
"I am participating in Immigrants Lead Boston because as immigrants we need more leaders to advocate and empower those that do not feel seen or heard. Boston has great policies to support our community. However, a lot more needs to be done. I am confident that Immigrants Lead Boston Lab will provide me with the necessary tools and skills to continue advocating for the immigrant community more effectively."
What action do you plan on taking after being part of ILB Lab?
"After being part of ILB Lab, I plan to continue networking with other immigrant leaders in Boston and City of Boston members such as City Officials and Neighborhood Liaisons. By doing this, we can create a space where other Boston immigrants can come together and share ideas on how we can continue advocating for immigrant communities."
Why are you participating in Immigrants Lead Boston Lab?
"I am seeking to gain more skills and exposure to various and effective methods to help support communities and individuals."
What action do you plan on taking after being part of ILB Lab?
"As a result of my participation in ILB Lab, my goal will be to implement my skills in my community and workplace and ultimately create space where individuals are seen, supported and presented with resources to facilitate their journey as individuals."
Why are you participating in Immigrants Lead Boston Lab?
"I am participating in Immigrants Lead Boston Lab to gain more knowledge and new perspectives about organizing. As a community leader sometimes I feel like I need grounding. I need a space where I can reflect on the work I have been doing. Immigrants Lead Boston Lab has been that space for me. I have been learning a lot from my peers and coaches."
What action do you plan on taking after being part of ILB Lab?
"I am planning to continue my healing and grant writing work in my community with a fresh lens on what community organizing can be."
Why are you participating in Immigrants Lead Boston Lab?
"I am continuing on my journey to advocate for my immigrant community. These training sessions will allow me to build strong relationships through storytelling and connecting with shared values with my friends and neighbors to create change and build an immigrant community who knows their rights."
What action do you plan on taking after being part of ILB Lab?
"I am currently embarking on a mission to help my friends and neighbors apply for drivers’ licenses regardless of immigration status. Through training and spreading the word, we will allow our families, friends and neighbors to safely drive to work and take their kids to school without fear of being deported."
Why are you participating in Immigrants Lead Boston Lab?
"A leader leads by example and paves the way. I enjoy helping others, being a mentor, and inspiring others. I love being someone you can count on. So I am participating in ILB Lab to gain the knowledge and resources to help my peers with their needs. I want to be more involved in my community, and this program is giving me the tools to deepen my ability to access my unique strength and personal power as I break through my self-perceived limits and get me out there with a richer expression of myself as a leader."
What action do you plan on taking after being part of ILB Lab?
"Continually engage with others in ways that inspire new insights, empower them, and build healthy relationships within my community."
Why are you participating in Immigrants Lead Boston Lab?
"As a firm believer in the power of community building and leadership development, I am participating in Immigrants Lead Boston Lab with great enthusiasm. Through this program, I am gaining invaluable skills and knowledge that will enable me to make a positive impact in my community. As an immigrant myself, I understand firsthand the challenges and barriers that immigrants face in their daily lives. I am committed to working towards creating a society where all immigrants can thrive and participate fully in civic life."
What action do you plan on taking after being part of ILB Lab?
"As a member of ILB Lab, I have gained invaluable insights into the inner workings of social justice movements and the importance of coalition building. Armed with this knowledge, I plan on applying what I have learned to strengthen the efforts of the Coalition for a Just Allston + Brighton (CJAB). Building bridges between diverse groups and enlisting allies from different backgrounds are critical aspects of successful advocacy, and I am eager to apply these principles to the work that CJAB is doing. With the power of collaboration and a shared vision of a just world, I am confident that we can make a meaningful impact on the lives of those in our community who need it most."
Why are you participating in Immigrants Lead Boston Lab?
"Because I believe it is a program that empowers immigrant communities."
What action do you plan on taking after being part of ILB Lab?
"I consider continuing to help our communities, guiding them, informing them, enthusing them, providing all the support I can."
Why are you participating in Immigrants Lead Boston Lab?
"I want to have more knowledge and learn about strategies to develop tactics and new forms of action that are effective to achieve the results we need in our community."
What action do you plan on taking after being part of ILB Lab?
"I want to participate more with City Life and the organizations that are fighting for rent control. I want to continue advocating for the families that suffer unjustified evictions, abuses in rent prices, and live in apartments which conditions are not appropriate for children and families. In addition I will continue running my arts & crafts group."
Why are you participating in Immigrants Lead Boston Lab?
"To learn more about public speaking and networking with community members and how we can run a meeting effectively."
What action do you plan on taking after being part of ILB Lab?
"To be more active in community activities."
Why are you participating in Immigrants Lead Boston Lab?
"I am participating in Immigrants Lead Boston Lab because I believe in education (resources); I know that there is no strength in a community if there are no intelligent successors; and I am confident that everything one learns someone else will benefit from. And I can better serve my community."
What action do you plan on taking after being part of ILB Lab?
"After being part of ILB Lab, I will plan to do more advocacy, to make better strategies."
Program Administrators
Program Administrators
As the Civic Engagement Coordinator for the Mayor's Office for Immigrant Advancement, Immigrants Lead Boston (ILB) holds a special place in my heart.
My journey in this office began by learning alongside ILB participants who now form a community of 58 immigrant leaders in Boston. I extend my gratitude to you all—it has been an enriching experience to learn and grow with you, and I assure you that this is not the end of our journey together. My vision is for ILB to continue to foster its alumni network while we relentlessly work toward creating a more diverse, inclusive, and equitable community for all immigrants in Boston.
Read Hawa's bio on the Immigrant Advancement webpage.
As the Immigrant Economic Integration Fellow for the Mayor's Office for Immigrant Advancement, my role involves supporting high-impact initiatives that empower Boston's immigrant communities. Working on this initiative, Immigrants Lead Boston Lab: From Ideas to Action, has been a truly rewarding experience for me.
As a first-generation American with Guatemalan heritage, I have a personal connection to the challenges immigrants face when trying to integrate into a new country. Witnessing my own parents' journey has given me a deep understanding of the importance of initiatives like this. The commitment displayed by the participants is truly inspiring. Seeing them develop into confident leaders who actively work to improve the lives of others has been remarkable.
Coordinators
Coordinatorsre:power is a national training organization made up of organizers, strategists, and technologists dedicated to building a liberated multi-racial democracy.
re:power exists to build a critical mass of social justice movements and their leaders who embody the ideology and practice of liberatory organizing, an organizing practice that is pro-Black and grounded in community, collective action, and abundance.
Conrado Ferreira dos Santos (he/him) serves as Movement Building Programs Director at re:power. Conrado develops and oversees grassroots organizing and movement technology programs to train and support leaders. Conrado focuses mainly on questions of structure, strategy, and leadership. He believes community organizing is how people can build power to fight for the world they want to live in.
Born in Petrópolis, Brazil, Conrado moved to the U.S. as a child and grew up undocumented, feeling the threat of deportation constantly looming over him and his family. As a teenager, he joined with other undocumented youth and began fighting for in-state tuition in Massachusetts and for a path to citizenship at the federal level through the DREAM Act. Through those experiences, Conrado learned that the dignity he wanted for himself and his family would only come through struggle and has since dedicated his life to community organizing and leadership development.
Born and raised in Massachusetts, from migrant Mexican parents, Andrea spent her academic career focused on activism and community organizing in the Latinx Community. She pursued Italian Studies and Economics at the University of Massachusetts Boston and has a Master’s Degree in International Business Management from Northeastern University.
She is a leadership trainer in public narrative and community organizing. She is also a Harvard Teacher Fellow for the Public Narrative: Leadership, Storytelling, and Action course with Dr. Marshall Ganz. In addition, Andrea serves as the Program Coordinator for The Arc of Change, preparing leadership programs for grassroots organizations, formerly incarcerated and system impacted communities, and academic institutions.
