“My main focus when I came to COFI was to have my family more united.”

This story was adapted from the “If We Come Together, Then We Have Power” Snapshots of Organizing Families report. Read more about how COFI impacted Marisol and see more quotes from her children.

Meet Marisol! She’s the proud mother of four. When she was first invited to join a COFI training, she said that, at the time, there were tensions and conflicts with her children as they grew older.

“My main focus when I came to COFI was to have my family more united,” she said.

She didn’t know what to expect from COFI. Her friend, Maria, invited her to a meeting and when she came, she immediately recognized other parents she knew. As the training progressed, she said one mother, Liliana, told her “You are a leader. Marisol, you’re ready.”

“Those words stayed with me. I felt empowered, and those words gave me the strength to come back home and build a stronger relationship with my family.”

And her family noticed! Her daughter, Ashley, has said, “[I]f it wasn’t for COFI, my mom would not have evolved as a mother, because it opened her mind, it taught her many things she didn’t know.”

Now, Marisol says that her family is united, and each of her children is dreaming big for themselves and their community. She helps them break down their goals and take steps to reach them – just like COFI taught her.

“It feels good to help my community because I know that it helps in a positive way,” says Ashley.

Since joining COFI over five years ago, Marisol’s leadership hasn’t stopped growing either! She’s been a branch delegate for her POWER-PAC IL branch in Aurora, Vice President of POWER-PAC IL, and is a trained peer trainer who teaches others The COFI Way. But, what’s really impactful is how her family’s become more united and seen changes in her since joining.

As she looks ahead to the future, her dream is to pass on to others what COFI has taught her about supporting parent leadership, becoming a better leader within her own family, and visioning for a better future.

Marisol’s family story is a reminder that parents, as leaders of families, are “natural” community and policy leaders, when given the chance. And, with COFI’s trainings, parents can create powerful changes within themselves and apply what they have learned to their families, communities, and the larger systems that affect families.