El Concilio Wins NCLR’s “Advocate of the Year” for Civic Efforts

by Rhashad Pittman
STOCKTON -- The country’s largest Latino civil rights and advocacy organization has recognized El Concilio for its own advocacy efforts in the local Latino community.
The National Council of La Raza (NCLR) honored El Concilio - Council for the Spanish Speaking with the 2010 Affiliate Advocate of the Year Award during NCLR’s annual conference last month. The Stockton-based nonprofit organization received the award for its civic work in the community.
El Concilio, which serves San Joaquin and Stanislaus counties, was chosen for the NCLR award from nearly 300 affiliate organizations, including ones in Los Angeles, Chicago and Washington, D.C. It is the first time the organization has received the award.
“We want to give people the opportunity to stand up and be heard,” said El Concilio’s President and C.E.O. Jose Rodriguez. We’re just pleased to put Stockton on the map.”
During the past couple years El Concilio has galvanized local residents, prompting many to get involved in the political process at the national level. Before Congress passed President Barack Obama’s health care reform bill, El Concilio was successful in getting more than 3,500 residents to send postcards and make more than 2,000 phone calls to their congressional representatives. The organization also was able to get residents to sign more than 1,500 postcards calling for immigration reform.
In the months leading up to the 2008 presidential election, the organization registered more than 1,200 new voters. After the election, statistics showed record turnout across the country for Latino voters.
“I think part of the reason that there was a record turnout is partly because of the efforts of organizations like ours,” Rodriguez said.
El Concilio currently serves more than 10,000 people each year and offers an array of services, many of which are free. They include job placement, legal assistance, mental health screenings, adult literacy classes and early childhood education preparation. The organization also recently opened a preschool in downtown Stockton, and started offering various services by the Mexican Consulate in its downtown location.
The organization’s recent political efforts were prompted by a push from NCLR for all of its affiliate organizations to become more vocal about issues of great importance to the Latino community.
Rodriguez said El Concilio is planning another push to collect postcards to show opposition to Arizona’s controversial immigration bill SB 1070. The organization hopes to collect 1,000 postcards within the next month.
“It’s a very simple way to give the everyday, common person an opportunity to express them self and to be heard,” Rodriguez said.