“I didn’t want to stop.”

Meet Talibah. She’s the proud mother of four. In addition to raising her children, she is also a caretaker for her mother and brother. After attending her first COFI training in 2013, Talibah kept asking, “What’s next?” Since then, she has progressed from a parent leader to a leading organizer in Chicago.

“What’s Next?”

In 2013, Talibah’s youngest child at the time was in preschool. She noticed a COFI flyer in her son’s cubby and became curious. She called the number on the flyer and spoke with a woman named Veronica, a COFI organizer at the time. Talibah said her energy was powerful over the phone.

“It was excellent, and she convinced me to take the training, and it was just like I didn’t want to stop. After completing the three phases of COFI training, I kept asking: what’s next?

Turning a Dream into Action and Becoming an Organizer

After completing the three phase of COFI training, Talibah knew she wanted to support parents in a bigger way and started to envision how she could become an organizer. When she envisioned success, she looked to her first COFI organizer, Veronica, and her commitment to using El modelo de COFI to build strong relationships with parents and partners in Englewood.

“I knew I wanted to do that,” she said. “I wanted to actually be in the community with parents supporting their goals.”

When the opportunity came to become a COFI trainer and train other parents, she thought she knew the manual and El modelo de COFI already from her experience as a parent leader.

However, one training session with longtime leader Ms. Rose changed her perspective. At the end of the training, Ms. Rose told Talibah, “We need to talk.”

“And she sat me down, and she basically scolded me in such a beautiful way because she made me think about what I was doing,” Talibah said. “Ms. Rose said to me, ‘This training is serious. You are impacting families and parents’ lives. You have to know it, and it has to come from the heart.’”

Talibah said she knew that Ms. Rose believed in her, and it made her practice more – sometimes she practiced with her own kids! After a couple of years, Talibah started working with more Spanish-speaking parents and other communities outside of Chicago.

“It’s been a journey, but my time in each community shaped me into the organizer that I am today.”

Mirando hacia el futuro...

When Talibah envisions the future for COFI and parent organizing, she is already thinking about the next generation.

“I see our children, our little ones, becoming the new leaders in our country, taking action and making changes that benefit everyone.”

Listen to Talibah tell her story in her own words!