Jackie Lujan and Yolanda Avila
Recorded
June 28, 2023
Archived
June 28, 2023
37:38 minutes
0:00 / 0:00
Id:
mby022858
Description
Yolanda Avila (67) sits down with her friend and mentee, Jackie Lujan (34), to talk about their shared community, the Southeast district of Colorado Springs. They discuss how Jackie was able to start a daycare business in the community and how Yolanda serves the community as a city council member.Subject Log / Time Code
Yolanda (Y) and Jackie (J) recall how they met. Y says their biggest connection is that they both grew up in the Southeast district, despite being of different generations.
J describes her experience growing up in the Southeast neighborhood. She says it is a very family-oriented community.
J says she was very feisty and rebellious growing up and got into a lot of fights.
Y recalls working with the Southeast Express newspaper to change the narrative of the community.
Y describes what the transition was like when she started going blind. She explains how essential proper public transportation and sidewalks were for her.
Y says when she returned to the Southeast neighborhood, the transit and sidewalks were much morse. Y describes how this led to her decision to run for city council.
J explains how she eventually started a daycare business.
J and Y explain how they are related.
J and Y recall their experience working on Y's city council campaign while J was starting up her daycare business.
Y describes the origin story of the Latina Equity Foundation.
J recalls a meeting Y invited her to where she connected with other women who spoke life into her vision of a business. J describes the challenges she faced while trying to get her daycare business off the ground.
J says the business is going well and she is working on opening up a second daycare location.
Y explains how she has advocated for resources for the Southeast neighborhood.
J and Y share closing thoughts and express gratitude for one another.
Participants
- Jackie Lujan
- Yolanda Avila