✨Rise Together Spotlight✨ We want to wish a very happy birthday to Rise Together member Yesenia Molina!!. This week, we are spotlighting her and her work. Yesenia believes that being a leader means working collaboratively with the community to help everyone reach their full potential. “Being a leader is not only about me, but bringing people up alongside me,” Yesenia says. As manager of the Watsonville Arts Program for Arts Council Santa Cruz County, she works to elevate local artists and foster a vibrant, inclusive cultural landscape. Yesenia is inspired by seeing empowerment in her community and by acts of healing and joy that translate into forms of resistance. Yesenia says, “Community relationships are the glue that keeps people together in order to continue resisting.” As an artist herself, Yesenia wants to encourage her 3 year-old daughter to be creative and embrace various forms of art in community. “I want to make sure we’re working towards something powerful, collectively, but that we’re also having fun while doing it.” ✨Perfil Destacado- Levantémonos Juntos✨ ¡Queremos desearle un muy feliz cumpleaños a Yesenia Molina, miembro de Levantémonos Juntos! Esta semana estamos destacando a Yesenia y su trabajo. Yesenia cree que ser líder significa trabajar en colaboración con la comunidad para ayudar a todos a alcanzar su máximo potencial. "Ser líder no se trata sólo de mí, sino de impulsar a las personas a mi lado", dice Yesenia. Como gerente del Programa de Artes de Watsonville para el Consejo de las Artes del Condado de Santa Cruz, trabaja para impulsar a los artistas locales y fomentar un panorama cultural vibrante e inclusivo. Yesenia se inspira en el empoderamiento de su comunidad y en los actos de sanación y alegría que se traducen en formas de resistencia. Yesenia dice: "Las relaciones comunitarias son el pegamento que mantiene unida a la gente para seguir resistiendo". Como artista, Yesenia quiere animar a su hija de tres años a ser creativa y a abrazar diversas formas de arte en la comunidad. "Quiero asegurarme de que estamos trabajando colectivamente por algo poderoso, pero también de que nos divirtamos mientras lo hacemos". (fb)

Thank you, Santa Cruz Pride for a day of JOY. A day of rainbows, unicorns, and resistance. This is what liberation looks like--when schools, churches, health care professionals, businesses, elected officials, nonprofit organizations, parents, children, and everyone in between come together to support a community. Here's to 50 more years of PRIDE and a future where everyone is cared for, loved, and safe. 📷: 1. Kevin Heuer, Director of Engagement & Impact w/Stuart Rosenstein, Queer Youth Leadership Awards, a grantee of our Diversity Partnership Fund 2. Community grantee Santa Cruz Community Health marched en masse 3. Community grantee The Diversity Center - Santa Cruz County and the world's biggest rainbow flag! 4. Hilary Bryant, our Director of Donor Services, with members of the Santa Cruz City Council and Assemblymember Gail Pellerin (fb)