“The Southwest Branch had great leaders with a lot of knowledge and we’re fighting for great policies.”

Meet Esmeralda! She’s a proud mother of three from Little Village. 

Esmeralda first heard about COFI about 10 years ago from her son’s school. She was drawn to what the other parents were telling her about working on personal and family goals. 

She went to the training, and after that, she said: “I kept going to everything COFI invited me to.” 

She said every time she showed up, she learned something new about a policy, a resource in her community, or something for her family. There was also a community of powerful women leaders, like Doña Mari. 

“I wanted to fight for my kids, and the Southwest branch had great leaders with a lot of knowledge and were fighting for great policies,” she recalls. 

What really hooked her and showed her the power of parents was a big win for the Southwest branch: gaining a new stop sign. Parents were concerned about dangerous drivers speeding past stop signs and wanted their kids to have safer routes. When they won that visible change, Esmeralda felt proud and knew more was possible. 

Since joining COFI and POWER-PAC IL, Esmeralda has also been the co-chair of the Mental Health Justice and Equity Committee (previously the Health, Food, and Recess Campaign) and helped win recess for all in Chicago and across the state. She said her own kids had previously seen their school take away recess for classes as a form of punishment. 

Esmeralda’s dream for her community has remained largely the same since joining COFI. She said: “My dream for my community is for there to be less violence and to have better resources for young kids to have opportunities.”