BRIDGET MURPHY & ADRIANA VELÁZQUEZ
Bridget Murphy: My name is Bridget Murphy, she/her, Co-Director of the Parent Engagement Institute, and I am here on a Friday afternoon interviewing the incredible new Co-Director, Adriana Velázquez.
Adriana Velázquez: Hi, everyone. I'm Adriana Velázquez, the new Co-Director of the Parent Engagement Institute. So excited for this.
BM: So, Adriana, how long have you been with the Parent Mentor Program? You're new to being the CoDirector, but you have been wearing many hats with the Parent Mentor Program for many years. So tell us, what's your parent mentor origin story?
AV: Oh my God…I was a young, 21-year-old in 2012 when I was invited to become a coordinator at one of our local schools at SWOP, at Mariano Azuela Elementary At that time, I knew nothing about life or what it meant to work with other parents and, like, really figure out leadership development and how amazing the program was. I fell in love because I'm still here.
But that was really the beginning: developing myself as a coordinator and then moving into an organizer role once I graduated from university, and then developing skills to bloom into a powerful, badass woman and really learning from all of these other women connected to me about what it means to be a leader in our community, what it means to create change. So it's been a long time! 2012, and now it's 2024. So 12 years–oh, Lord! And I've been a part of PEI since 2018 or 2019?
I fell in love because I’m still here… developing skills to bloom into a powerful, badass woman and really learning from all of these other women connected to me about what it means to be a leader in our community, what it means to create change.”
BM: Yes–in some way, shape, or form since the beginning! I remember meeting you at a train-thetrainer at Logandale Elementary way back when.
AV: I think we met each other in 2012. We did the exercise with building a song, and that's when Tammy first created the parent mentor song, and then that evolved.
BM: From coast to coast, yeah! And we still sing.
AV: And we still sing it!
BM: So, what has kept you coming back over 12 years? What keeps you here? What keeps you going?
AV: I mean, first, you know, starting at SWOP, an organization that is about community organizing, building power. And I think as a young immigrant woman, I wanted to find a place where I felt like my voice mattered and also where I felt respected and taken seriously and that I had an opportunity to grow. Then, when I was invited to be a coordinator for the Parent Mentor Program, I didn't realize that it would be exactly that, you know? Being taken seriously as a leader, having my ideas put into action, and having opportunities to develop skills that are both important in a personal way in general and also impact others.
AV: So I think that's the reason why I've stayed here. Because year after year, no matter the role I've taken, it has always been a place of growth and respect, a place where my voice matters and where I have a chance to share my interests with others. And we can build something really powerful.
And so I'm all for how I've been developed through the program as a woman. And it is mostly women who are part of this program and this initiative and the Parent Engagement Institute I just love that. I love that we are pushing each other. We get so many gifts from each other. So that's why I'm still here.
BM: For many, many more years.
AV: For many years to come!
BM: This is just the beginning.
AV: This is just the beginning. That's right.
BM: So tell us a little bit more about your story and how the work of the Parent Mentor Program connects to your heart, your own path, your own life experience?
AV: You know, I mentioned a little bit about my passion for wanting to use my voice for change. Since I was little, I grew up with my two parents who are very much about seeking better opportunities. What is that life with dignity that we can find for us, for our children?
The Parent Mentor Program has always been a place of growth and respect, a place where my voice matters and where I have a chance to share my interests with others. And we can build something really powerful.”
Through their actions, they showed me what it meant to be brave, what it meant to keep going in spite of obstacles. And then, coming here to the United States and recognizing that the education system here is very unequal and living in Back of the Yards or in the SouthSide of Chicago, many of us were experiencing similar things where we didn't have access to a good enough education or good enough spaces to grow.
And I remember being frustrated about how students were seen. I went through a bilingual education, then through regular education classrooms, then through honors classes, and then through Advanced Placement classes. And there was a huge gap in how those children were treated differently.
AV: And I also saw my young sister going from a neighborhood elementary school into a magnet high school that was highly regarded in the middle of downtown. She was super behind and yet we saw her as, like, a really smart child with all of this wish to learn. But the frustration of not having the same background education as other kids coming from other sides of the city, you know? And so that kind of fueled this work because it's very much connected to the experience that children have in school, and also the experience that mothers have in being able to connect to a system that many times doesn't welcome mothers--or fathers--into the school.
And my mom was very much involved, but always with this recognition that we trust in the system to educate our kids. And then we pick them up from school and hope that they are educated and, that they are learning and that the time is worthwhile. And not always is that an opportunity, not because of teachers' fault or even the principal's fault, but it's a bigger flaw in lack of resources and lack of the stuff that's needed to make a school run successfully. So Parent Mentors are like this beautiful superhero that, like, comes in and cares and is love that otherwise wouldn't be there.
BM: Yeah, absolutely. Right. So, thinking about that, and thinking about how we have, as you said, a totally unequal and inequitable school system where, depending on where you go to school, your access to different resources is really different. But the other thing you said that really stood out is, is that children are treated differently in different spaces. And I'm guessing you would say the same is true for parents, right? So what do you think is something that people working in schools kind of get wrong or don't fully understand about the leadership and talent of parents, in particular, parents of color?
AV: Yeah. I mean, I think that schools, in the way that the system is set up, are very hierarchical structures. And there's a lot of policies in place to almost kind of police the way that schooling is handled.
AV: So I think there's this certain attitude of walking on eggshells about what we should or should not let into our school and who belongs in the decisionmaking when it comes to building this learning environment for children
And I think it's such a missed opportunity when, say, whether it's an administrator or a teacher--sometimes the gatekeeper could even be the school clerk that just wants to keep the rules as they are in the book and doesn't want to get in trouble and wants to make sure that systems are followed That can lead to a lack of access for parents who don't know how to approach a school clerk or their principal or teachers to say, "Hey, I care And I want to see if my talents and I can be of use to make this school better "
And so when principals finally recognize that parents are their true partners in a lot of this, the gaps and holes that can't be filled because of lack of resources, they are awakened to all of this possibility We see the best schools are thriving because they have amazing parents who care, who are moving and leading on things that the principal alone cannot complete
But if they're afraid or if, you know, the administration is afraid to almost talk to parents because of, again, wanting to keep control or safety or even the way things are
When principals finally recognize that parents are their true partners… they are awakened to all of this possibility. We see the best schools are thriving because they have amazing parents who care, who are moving and leading on things that the principal alone cannot complete.”
AV: And then also we have to be real, right? Like we are black and brown parents and our administration doesn't always fall in line with what our values are and what we believe our families should be treated like. There is also sometimes a level of top-down directive that keeps parents away. I know that, working as an organizer in our local schools, there were some schools where parents could walk in and just like talk to the principal. There was a great communication, even if there wasn't availability all of the time. But there was always a response and a very welcoming response to parents. And then there's other schools where that was not the case and it was a work in progress or where we really had to organize to make that the case. So there's so much gray area.
But we know that across the board, all our parents should be treated with respect and that's angering but also inspiring to keep working on what we're doing.
BM: Yeah. There are schools where just the ability to get in the door, get into classrooms, and actually run a program in a partnership is, like, an organizing victory in and of itself, right?
And there are schools where there is such an alignment, such a vision alignment, where we can really see the whole school united and working in the same direction. There's a huge range and it's like, no matter what, I feel like we have something to offer no matter what the case is at the school.
AV: Yeah, I agree. And I was going to say it's a process because we see Parent Mentor Programs in their first year in a school sort of feeling the ground, figuring out how to build relationships, how to build a partnership. And then you see Parent Mentor Programs in year three, year five, and the principal is our biggest champion.
And the principal is like, 'What else? What else do parents want to do? What else are you dreaming about? Because I'm all in.' Because now they've come to build that relationship deeply and they get it. And they trust the parents and their decision making and voice to shift. So, I think that it's a learning curve.
BM: Totally. And getting started is a lot of work. We know that our principals and teachers are already way overworked. And so getting started is no small feat, too.
AV: 100 percent.
BM: So, thinking about the future (we're going to celebrate our 30th anniversary next spring, the 30th anniversary of the Parent Mentor Program), what do you think about the next five, ten, 30 years? What makes you excited about the future of the Parent Engagement Institute?
AV: Oh my God–so much, so much. And I think in this co-directorship, with you, Bridget, it's been really fun to discover what all of those possibilities are.
As we started talking about, the stuff that we've done really well, all the power that we've built collectively across the state of Illinois. And then the recognition that Parent Mentors should be the standard for working hand-in-hand with parents and education in every single school. Not only across the state but beyond that. Like what does it look like nationally?
But I think what I'm excited about most right now is actually the slowing down. I think because we've grown due to, hello?! It's amazing. Like, no one can deny that Parent Mentors and the Parent Engagement Institute are who you should be talking to and what you should be doing.
I think what I’m excited about most right now is actually the slowing down… It’s important to pause, reflect, and think deeply about what it means to grow sustainably and to continue to pour into the women and men who are part of this effort.”
AV: But aside from that, recognizing that growth is hard. I think it is important to pause, reflect, and think deeply about what it means to grow sustainably and to continue to pour into the women and men who are part of this effort. So I'm really excited about that internal growth and development of how we make sure that when we're many years ahead, we're still smiling and, like, glowing when we talk about our role in the Parent Mentor Program. And that comes with recognizing what shifts need to happen in partnerships. What professional development needs to happen internally.
I'm so excited to continue to advance in what we've already done an amazing job of and are really taking seriously, which is to enter into more of our AfricanAmerican communities. And really to also name the valuable knowledge that our more than 40 partner organizations bring. And especially after our team reflection this summer, I think we've been taking that seriously.
People have been so giving of knowledge and recognizing that we're all, you know, setting goals, and excited about growing, yes, universality, expanding, but also growing deeply and getting to a place where we celebrate every year the Parent Mentor Program and Parent Engagement Institute being even more badass than it is today and more united, more together in the mission.
BM: Yeah, absolutely. We can't keep expanding if we aren't investing in ourselves and our people and our structures–it's a monster infrastructure. It is enormous.
AV: Lord, help us. Yes, it is enormous. It's a force to be reckoned with. And a well-oiled machine that gets to do fun things, exciting things, and go to fun, beautiful places. And so I'm really excited about that part.
BM: All right–I told you I would throw you some curveball questions! Are you ready? So, we want to get to know Adriana outside of Parent Engagement Institute for a minute. We have to say, you are a little bit of a local celebrity in Chicago! Can you share at least one of your passions outside of work?
AV: Yeah, sure. That's an easy one. I have loved music since I can remember. I used to wreck my grandpa's cassettes and record my beautiful, tiny voice at the age of nine. And I think when I got to high school, I really recognized that music was the thing I wanted to do my entire life.I currently have a band that's called Quinto Imperio, and I play Latin Fusion music and just enjoy the gift of what music does for people, too. I know it might not seem related to building power and organizing, but in many ways, it's one of the closest things in terms of bringing humanity and emotion and feelings together and sharing culture and fun and celebration. I've been a musician for a while now. And will hopefully continue to do that for a very long time!
BM: That's great. Keep wrecking cassettes, yes!
AV: Well, now I have albums, so you know…
BM: Fancy!
AV: I think also that my art feeds into the kind of organizer and co-director that I can be, hopefully.
BM: Yes, absolutely. You bring that joy into all the spaces that you're in, and that energy, and also just teamwork and collaboration. So I think all of that goes together brilliantly.
AV: Thank you.
BM: All right. Well, it is 5:00 on a Friday, so I think we should end this interview. But as always, spending time with you is always such a pleasure so I'm very glad to be doing this with you.
AV: Thank you, Bridget. You're so nice. And next time, I get to interview you!