Alumni from the Latino Leadership Initiative (LLI) program at Lynnwood-based Latino Education Training Institute (LETI) celebrated their achievements at a reunion Saturday, featuring barbecue, music and bingo.
Started in 2013, the LLI has been helping Latino immigrants and students develop leadership skills. The program has formed partnerships with several institutions, including the University of Washington Bothell (UWB), Edmonds College and Skagit Valley College. At UWB, the program began in 2019 and has been running annually, with the 2024 cohort comprising nine students. Participants engage in biweekly meetings and attend seven group sessions from January to May, all of which foster their leadership development.
Besides the Latino Leadership Institute, LETI provides more than 20 programs to Latino community members, such as nutrition and child-care assistance, vaccine access, computer literacy training, GED completion and conversational English courses. It also plans to expand its location and services at a new 16,000-square-foot facility in south Everett.
One of the alumni at the Everett reunion was LETI Board Director Karla Rios. She attended the LLI program twice – in 2013 and 2014 – and is now working as a counselor at Everett Public Schools. She said that when she was in the LLI program, she felt like there was more to learn. She took the program again to “build foundations.”
Rios eventually received her bachelor’s degree in political science from Washington State University and a masters in education from Seattle University.
She credited LETI’s founder, Rosario Reyes, with mentoring her early in her career. “Rosario gave me the opportunity to apply [as a board member], and I took advantage of that and want to give back to my community and work with someone I’ve known since I was 18,” Rios said.
A first-generation immigrant from Peru, Reyes immigrated to the U.S. in 1985 and worked at Sea Mar Community Health. Seeing that there was an achievement gap between native-English speakers and Latino immigrants, she founded LETI in 1998 as a way to educate and support Latino immigrants, helping them navigate their life in Washington.
Another alumni, Lupita, completed the Latino Leadership Initiative in 2024. Before she and her family moved to the U.S., she was a history teacher in Mexico. Having acquired better English language and business skills with the program, she is starting a business in food service because of its flexible hours that allows her and her husband to take turns taking care of their children.
Monica Fonseca Rubio, who finished the Latino Leadership Initiative in 2016, said she works as an executive assistant at Sea Mar in Lynnwood. “LLI provided me with great opportunities to learn how to network and exceptional leadership skills and a deeper understanding of community engagement,” Rubio said. “This experience also enhances my ability to lead initiatives that reflect the needs and values of the Latino community.”
— Story and photos by Nick Ng
