Structuring Chaotic Minds

Advocacy, Education & Community Power with Nestor Esparza

• Melissa Franklin • Season 4 • Episode 5

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Season 4 of Structuring Chaotic Minds continues with powerful conversations that challenge the way we think about education, advocacy, and the power of community-driven change. 

In this episode, host Melissa Franklin sits down with Nestor Esparza, a seasoned nonprofit leader, policy advocate, and education strategist with 15 years of experience driving meaningful impact.

Nestor shares his insights on how education goes far beyond the classroom—it’s about who controls the narrative and how informed communities can shape their own future. From his work across Latin America, South Asia, and Texas, he’s seen firsthand how advocacy can be the most powerful form of marketing and why storytelling from within the community is more impactful than any outside PR campaign.


Key Takeaways:

🔹 “Advocacy is Your Best Marketing” – Why the most effective campaigns come from passionate voices, not expensive ads.
🔹 Community-Based Advocacy & The Puro Community Cultural Series – How grassroots efforts engage students and families in meaningful ways.
🔹 The Power of Storytelling – Why the best narratives come from within the community and how organizations can harness this strength.
🔹 Actionable Steps for Advocacy – Simple ways YOU can get involved and start making a difference today.

Whether you're an educator, nonprofit leader, or someone who believes in the power of informed communities, this episode will leave you with the tools and inspiration to take action.


Connect with Nestor:

📌 LinkedIn
📌 Website
📌 Email: nestor.esparza@sapicsc.org 

Join us for this eye-opening conversation on how education, advocacy, and storytelling can change lives—and why YOUR voice matters more than ever. 🎙💡 #StructuringChaoticMinds #SAPI #TriumphPublicSchools


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Speaker 1:

Welcome to Structuring Chaotic Minds, the podcast where we turn the chaos of everyday challenges into structured success. I'm your host, melissa. In each episode, we'll explore innovative strategies, real-life stories and actionable insights to help you navigate the complexities of leadership, business and personal growth. Whether you're an entrepreneur, a leader or someone striving for personal development, this podcast will give you the tools to create clarity in the chaos. Let's dive in.

Speaker 1:

Welcome back to another episode of Structuring Chaotic Minds. If you're new here, then you will be learning today that we don't just talk about ideas. We break them down, we challenge norms and we really explore real world strategies that make a difference. Today's episode is going to be a powerful one, because today we're talking about something that affects all of us, whether we realize it or not, and that's the power of education, even outside the classroom. Now, this doesn't mean that school as we know it, it's actually education, and how we educate ourselves, our communities and even our policymakers to create a real, lasting impact. To dive into this today I have an incredible guest who's joining me. His name is Nestor Esparza Magana, and he has spent over 15 years leading nonprofits, shaping policies and advocating for human rights and education and equity. He's worked across the globe, from Latin America to South Asia and now in Texas. He's here to break down how we can help be a part of the solution when it comes to education, public policy and community empowerment. Nestor, welcome to the show.

Speaker 2:

Hi, melissa, thank you for having me. I am happy to be show. Hi, melissa, thank you for having me. I am happy to be here. I'm actually at the Puro Community Studio, so that's what you see in the background for those that can see it in video and the Puro Community Studio is based here in San Antonio, in our Triumph Public High School's San Antonio campus, and it's one of the advocacy initiatives that we're doing to engage the community.

Speaker 2:

We're located in very close to the historic west side of San Antonio and that's really exciting for me because I'm a proud citizen of District 5 and just live very close by and, as you were mentioning, for me it's a great experience to, after being away abroad for 15 years working on human rights, working on public policy, working on these topics that are very much my passion it's great to be able to come back home. I always say like it's very rewarding when you're in a place like India or you're in a place like Colombia and you can support and help and the community is welcoming you to work together with them. But when you can do it in your own neighborhood, in the place where you grew up or the place that you call home, it's even more rewarding, and while I have been doing different or been involved in various projects in my nonprofit career over the last two years, I've been focusing on education, as you were mentioning Also, in particular, on the advocacy components regarding education, public school choice and just the idea of being able to give voices to our communities and the communities that we serve so that we can basically tell their stories. Sounds like something very simple and it is. It's something that I think that sometimes we hear advocacy and we believe that it's maybe something complex, and the reality is that everyone can do advocacy and, as you said, education is very important, right, education in the public education setting, but also educating the public as a whole, and that's what advocacy can do, and I would say that it goes beyond just education, right? I think it creates connection with people. It's the way that, as a community, we can pull together and understand each other and advocate in that way, and understand each other and advocate in that way. I am based here in San Antonio and spend a lot of time here at the studio and advocacy activities that we do, but Triumph Public High Schools has 11 campuses throughout the state of Texas and I provide support to all of our campuses. Just to give you maybe a little bit of background on SAPI SAPI is the nonprofit that is the charter school holder of Triumph Public High Schools.

Speaker 2:

So Triumph Public High Schools is one of our main programs, so to speak, and what we do at SAPI is to basically try to complement what we're doing as Triumph and to go beyond the classroom, right so, go beyond the graduation, go into the communities. So that's the part that the nonprofit does to support the school. The school focuses on serving 100% at-risk youth. By that the school focuses on serving 100% at-risk youth. By that I mean at risk of dropping out or that have dropped out and they're coming back to school. So that is something that we have a great mission, because we're supporting kids that really, really need that support through the model that Triumph offers and with that we can give them flexible schedules, we can give them different opportunities for them, small class sizes. We really are meeting them where they're at to help them graduate.

Speaker 2:

But as SAPI, we want to be able to go beyond that, right. So it's like what? What can we do after school? How? What can we do beyond the classroom? How can we engage the parents? How can we engage the the community and how can we go beyond graduation? Right, because even though that's the end goal of the of the school as a high school, the reality is that we need to also look further than that and see what you know, how can we support our kids beyond, beyond graduation? And the school already does a lot of that through AP courses and certifications and things of that sort.

Speaker 2:

But through SAPI, what we were trying to do is really have advocacy as a main strategy for our theory of impact at the community level, and that's something that we're trying hard to do and not just like trying. We're really looking at different ways in which we can approach advocacy and we see it as just not not only a tool that one can have, but really something that should be a must Like. We need to get those voices out. We need to let, as you said, lawmakers inform them, let them know that people are benefiting from this and that their positive stories could be very helpful for someone that might be looking for an option as far as education, right, and, as I said, it's something that we're looking at it as a way to connect with our communities beyond your typical flyer, let's say. So that is something that we're. What we're trying to do, like through this type of spaces and activities that we're doing at the community level, is really to try to amplify the voices of the communities that we serve.

Speaker 1:

I love it. Well, for some of our audience, they might not be thinking about education. They might just be thinking okay, does this conversation even pertain to me? But thinking of that, you've worked in lots of different cultural settings, from Latin America to Texas. So before we dive in a little bit deeper, let's just start broad. What does education really mean to you beyond schools and the classrooms? And I understand and I'm hearing so many great things, like with SAPI and TRIUMPout, but what does it mean to you and why should the average person care about education as public awareness?

Speaker 2:

Well, I mean, when it comes to education, for me it's first of all basic human rights, so that is something that's essential for everyone and it's a right for people to have access to education. But I think it's important to recognize that when we say education, it's not like a one-size-fits-all type of approach. So to me, education is also about thinking that there are different groups, that you might want to consider your education models in a different way depending on the type of population that you're serving, and that it's not limited necessarily, yeah, to like a classroom setting right, it can go beyond that. But thinking about, I think, the basic.

Speaker 2:

When you go internationally, then you're really sometimes, in some cases, you're really looking at the basic right, like what we're trying to do is just bring really basic education to these communities. In a setting like ours here in the US, we can think a little bit beyond that right. So some things have already been covered kind of at the basic level, but then I think there's once, it's kind of like once you get to that point, then you need to ask citizens. We should always be asking for improvement when it comes to things like that, because education is a building block of our society. So if we don't have an educated society, it's it's difficult to make progress.

Speaker 2:

And again the education should not always be in a kind of like, viewed as a traditional way. You know, so it's, sometimes it's going to be. Your education might lead you to what most people tend to think of. Right, it could be like higher education, meaning like you come here and then you go to college, but the reality is that education can take place in other settings, right? So this could lead you into a military career, it could lead you into trades. So, for me, I view education as a it's not like a static thing. I think it's something that we need to consider, based on the population that we are serving.

Speaker 1:

I love that. That's powerful, especially, a lot of people might think it's only one way or it's not going to work or they're kind of scared of it. That really ties into the best piece or really what I know. You say a lot that advocate. Advocacy is your best marketing and I love that because if people are able to actually advocate for education, put that out there, as that's the platform I'm already hearing just it's pouring out of you how much everybody has that right to education and it's in all the projects you're a part of and such Thinking of that. Can you break it down for us? What do you mean by advocacy and why is it such a powerful tool for nonprofits and schools?

Speaker 2:

Well.

Speaker 2:

I mean, I always say that advocacy is your best marketing, and I think that's because marketing traditional marketing, as we may think of it, it tends to be transactional right and to me advocacy becomes more like relational right and it's that it's already like a different approach to how you're going to try to convey a message, right? Well's, a that is already like a different approach to how you're gonna try to convey a message, right? Well, you know, like the branding and promotion is an important part, the reality is that people are not remembering you because of your logo or the colors of your brands. Right, it's. This is not. It helps to have a good logo and it helps to have good colors, but they're going to remember you because of the stories. So the real experiences, the real impact that is taking place, and in that sense, that's many times I say look, you can design a great flyer about a great program and that flyer might just be seen for one second and then gets, you know, thrown away, whereas if you have a really great program, that means that you have good stories and the story might stick around with someone for longer. Not only will it stick around for longer, as many people can start creating a direct link, there's empathy, there's understanding, there's human emotions and I think if we appeal to the human emotions, I think then we can provide a different platform almost in which we can really maximize those voices and kind of make them be like lasting longer in people's minds, almost right. So I think it's like a long lasting type of impact that advocacy can have because of that, like raw and uncut, unfiltered sometimes, and and that's very, that's a very powerful, powerful tool.

Speaker 2:

I think, in coming from you know, having worked for nonprofits my, my whole life, I I'm always thinking of what are going to be the ways in which we can reduce cost. So how can we kind of reduce cost but maximize the impact, right? So then to me that's the other thing as to why I think it's your best marketing tool because it can be almost for free Not completely, because there's no such thing as for free but you don't need to go and hire some external agency to come and do that job. Because if we take a step back from the traditional type of like setting, when we think about, like most organizations, most companies, whether you know nonprofit, whether it's a private sector, even public, right, they'll have a marketing department or like a communications department, right? Sometimes that covers a little bit more, and I think it's important to to think of OK, well, these are things that can lead you not only to create awareness, raise awareness, to educate the public, but they become additional resources.

Speaker 2:

By spending very little, you can get a lot of return in your investments, right, because it can lead you to like earned media, it can lead you to partnerships, it can lead you to collaborations, and one thing that's you know, when we're thinking about community-based advocacy and community work, is that it's so important to work together and community work is that it's so important to work together. So it's not. We're not just alone in this and we cannot just solve things like education, right, or any other topic. It's the idea of like coming together as a community and realizing that the challenges sometimes are really big, but we're also a lot of people and that together we can kind of go into that. But what I feel like, if there's no authentic storytelling in that advocacy, it's much harder to get people on board, right, it's easier to just throw the flyer away. It's much harder to hear like a powerful story and be like I don't really care about that, right? So I think that's something that it's very important. That's something that it's very important and I think that it's something that, unfortunately, we have not gotten to the point yet in which we see this, as I was mentioning earlier, just like a basic thing, a standard thing that every organization should have, and a bit of, maybe, a change in paradigm to think about approaching communications marketing through more of like an advocacy lens rather than the, you know, more kind of traditional marketing.

Speaker 1:

I love that. I think the phrase that sticks out to me would be where were you on 9-11? And a lot of people can tell you where they were. A lot of people can tell you what they were doing, what happened that that day. I mean, it's not like they remember it like it was yesterday, but they're very familiar with it. It's ingrained in their head and it was years ago already. It was over 20 years now.

Speaker 1:

Thinking about the science behind it is actually, if there's anything that made us feel a certain way or was really that impactful, it gets stored in our long-term memory. So I really think that's something that gets overlooked a lot and I love that you point that out. But your impact speaks louder than any billboard and it's really going to be out there. And how do you make people feel like what did you do? How did you release it tenfold? And that's really cool because that takes us to our next piece and we're moving into community advocacy in action. So I actually met you through partnership and through an actual training. Was it future leaders or what was the actual name?

Speaker 2:

future leaders academy. I believe that was the first time that we and that was the futuro.

Speaker 1:

So it was obvious that we were all there because we advocated in our own spaces for something and they saw something in each person to bring us all together. And the resources, the trainings, the information it's been so insightful and exciting to be able to like have that. But what I get excited even more about is the collaborations and the actual advocacy in action. And watching some of you guys and what everybody's doing, I I'm like, oh, my goodness, I need to do more. So it's just to go over those. I want to talk a little bit more about the initiatives you guys have going on. So the plural community cultural series. Can you share how community-based advocacy, specifically through that program, has impacted your student and family engagement at your campuses and what lessons can other schools and organizations take by doing the same approach?

Speaker 2:

Well with the Puro Community Cultural Series. It's something that's. It's interesting how it started. So we have 11 campuses right now, but we just opened in August the campus here and in Abilene, and we were thinking particularly here in San Antonio, where it's a larger city. When you're thinking about advocacy, marketing, whatever it is like, you're competing with a lot of information that is around us, right, there's a lot of things going on in a larger city and it's harder to, kind of like, get your message through just because of that clutter that exists. Right, and we wanted to focus or support a little bit more the San Antonio efforts advocacy-wise because of that particular environment and the fact that we were just opening the school. So when we started thinking about this and again this is also thanks to the support that we were just opening the school so when we started thinking about this, and again this is also thanks to the support that we have from local partners. So you know City Education Partners or Futuro San Antonio or you know these local partners that also make it very specific for things to work in San Antonio. But thanks to that support, we were able to kind of like think a little bit outside the box and then just try to figure out what will be a good way to get to the community, to inform them and to engage them. And when we were talking about this, I knew that for me the idea was we're coming into this community and we're opening a school and we want to let them know that we're part of the community and we're there to support. But I wanted to be able to do it in a way in which we were not even necessarily mentioning the school or mentioning the nonprofit, but rather just letting them know we're here, and it's not just us, it's a lot of other organizations. We're here and it's not just us, it's a lot of other organizations. So basically was okay, how can we make it so that we're really responding to the cultural context?

Speaker 2:

Having worked in, you know, many places that were like, very like foreign to me, I depended a lot on you know, if I'm in some, I'm in India, right, I'm depending a lot on my coworkers to guide me on those things, because you know I'm not from there, I'm only there from you know X amount of time. So so that cultural component, like you know, I'm always going to them. You know I was always going to like what. Would it be the way in which we can, we can connect.

Speaker 2:

Coming back here, it was a little bit different, because I didn't have to do that. I just had to think about what my neighborhood looked like, you know, or what you know, when I grew up here. What were some of the things that were, and then immediately was like, okay, we want to make it about community. And then we thought of like Puro community, like only community, right. And we thought, well, puro is something that is very Puro, san Antonio, right, like it's something that is very much used here in the local context, so even though, like you're putting it in Spanish, it's still very much understood. So we thought, like it represents the community in that way. It's like they know what that means.

Speaker 2:

And then it was looking at okay, if we want to be part of the community, we should represent the community, right? So we're thinking about what other things can we incorporate into this? That would be interesting. So we thought of like let's bring law writers and let's do a law writer show and let's play some specific type of music when we're like having the law writer show, and from there was like, ok, but what else could we incorporate into this? So, again, through partnerships, right, because when we go to the law writers, it's like establishing that partnership with the law writer groups so that they come by.

Speaker 2:

Then we looked at can we incorporate art? Because we believe that, and I always say it, I think San Antonio like for including myself before I left, I would never really thought of San Antonio as, like you know, having all this street art and all this art San Antonio is like you know, having all this street art and all this art. And after I've come back and I see it from a different point of view, I'm like, oh, there's so much art here, right, I feel like many people come to San Antonio. They'll go to the hemisphere, they'll go to the Alamo, they'll go to the Riverwalk, fiesta, texas SeaWorld, and they will never stop, you know, by the west side, where there's all these murals, or to the east side, right, so it was. To me it was like San Antonio is very artistic.

Speaker 2:

So can we incorporate arts and culture into the community advocacy component, to engage people? And that's what we did. We reached out to SAC, which is just down the street. They lent us some art. We reached out to some local artists. You can see some art still from them somewhere here. So we created basically a gallery in which people could come by. If you cannot afford, maybe, to go to a museum, you can just come by here and check out the gallery that we have. We had the law writers. Engage the community. Come and vote for the best law writer.

Speaker 2:

We call it El Favorito and anyone gets to vote and it makes it like a fun experience. But in addition to that, we reached out to all the nonprofits that we had some type of relationship, so the food bank, there was the United Way Center for Healthcare Services, any Baby Can Cooper Kids, so all kinds of organizations that provide other kinds of services, so that when the community were coming by we were letting them know, hey, the school will be opening, but there's all this other stuff you know.

Speaker 2:

And then people it was like a great two events during the summer and that maybe again we'll do it next summer or something like that, and that turned out into we did like four sessions last year we created a physical space because then we thought, hey, like, if we want to bring the community and, by the way, you know, maybe we can talk a little bit later about the space itself but it's open to the community. So if someone wants, wants to come and do something here, it's available. So that's kind of how it started. And then it is interesting because the second event we ran out of space. On the first event with Lowriders, they showed up so much support and I kept on saying that's Puro Community, coming by and knowing that that's Puro Community, that's what Puro Community is, and people would ask me how much did that cost? And I was like it didn't cost anything Like that's a reality, Like we didn't really spend any money on this.

Speaker 2:

We just asked our partners and they showed up and then we were able to create this event. So I think it's something that obviously you know. If you have a good mission and you're coming in the community to let everyone know, hey, we're here to support and work together with everyone, then I think that has a positive impact and it leads to other things, because at first, when I was kind of like proposing these ideas, the reaction was a little bit like what, like law writers and arts. The reaction was a little bit like what, like lowriders and art. And I think, in a way, that's encouraging for me whenever I get that kind of reaction, because I feel like even more so I should do it. I think it's important for us to sometimes at least test a little bit outside of what we tend to usually do, just to see how it goes, and then you might have a really good result, like we did. So that is a great way to start engaging the community on this, and so, as I said, it went to four events. We got earned media, for example. So, talking about advocacy, we had the local news coming by and just saying like, hey, what's going on? And the first time that they came by, they came by to check out the Lawrider show, but that opened up the conversation to okay, they were like we just want to do a piece on the Lawrider show and I was like that's fine, but we're opening the school. And they were like, okay, tell me more because we want to do a piece about the school. So we're getting, like you know things, like you know, earned media in that sense out of this type of events. And again, that's more. Maybe, if you were to think about it from the beginning in the traditional marketing way, you could just go and buy a segment in a news channel, right, but you might be able to go in a different way that will, as I said, save you money and create more impact. So that's something that it has supported, more impact. So that's something that it has, uh, that has supported.

Speaker 2:

We got approached by a movie, like some filmmakers, and they were like, hey, we heard about the studio, we would be interested in doing a movie, and they, we, we were here in this space showing that the movie was showing here in the back and we had about 80 people in this in this room and the movie. Again, they approached us just because they had heard about the stuff that we're doing and they were like we want to do it. We did it on, we filmed it here at the school and it was kind of like a bit of PSA to raise awareness on fentanyl poisoning during the fentanyl poisoning awareness month. So that was in October last year, and so we're you know, we're open to the community. When they reach out to us, it's like yes, of course we want to do that, of course we want to show it here.

Speaker 2:

That's the idea of, like, having this community space and at this moment, because we have all those other campuses, this got to, obviously, you know, to present to our board and to you know, and they're like well, now we want the Puro community in all of our campuses. So it's starting to make people excited about doing this type of things. Every time someone is coming in here, they're like they love the space, they love the color, you know, and, as I said, it just starts a conversation. It starts a conversation and, if you're you know, the first thing is this is so colorful and so beautiful and the next thing is this is what we use this space for. Then it starts, you know, giving voices to people and just amplifying them in a way. So that's kind of what the Puro community cultural series is and kind of what it has it has turned into and it just continues on on evolving. So so we're excited. We have had also the opportunity to collaborate with local artists on this, but the students also engage in the murals, so that has also been nice and that's kind of where we want to go.

Speaker 2:

What we want to do is everything that we're doing, we want the students to do. We want them to really be the ones creating, we want them to be the ones giving us the idea. You know, the ones doing the. So that's where, where, where we want to go. We do not want to think of like, oh, let's create an advocacy department, right Like. This will not be the thing. The idea would be to let's transfer the knowledge to the kids, let's get them excited, let's show them that they actually have such a powerful voice and such good stories that they can create some, some, some influence, right like. It's interesting because you right now ask, like young people in the us, like, what do they want to do when they grow up? And like a big number says that they want to be influencers, you know, and, and the thing is that the the perception or the immediate reaction.

Speaker 1:

I think especially from what it looks like is like influencers.

Speaker 2:

It's almost like you know.

Speaker 2:

It's like no, you have to like go and do this like and I think it's because we think of influencers in the I'm influencing, like I don't know, maybe video games or makeup or things that maybe we just don't find to have that much importance, but when you think about like there's so many, you can be an influencer in all kinds of ways. And I think realizing that is basically the idea of giving power to the voices of the community, because then you can influence and advocate on the improvements of your community. So I think that's something that we want to do, so that the kind of the Puro community goes from an event to a series of events, to an actual program that engages our youth, and they can then go on and engage the community, engage the lawmakers. So that's pretty exciting, and it's exciting in particular because the kids have been responding well to it. And to me that's also kind of no surprise, because I think that if we also consider that they're teenagers, right, so it's like how can we engage them? Well, if using art, technology, media, that might make it a little bit more interesting for them, right, and then we can start giving them guidance on how they can do advocacy as well. But that's where I hope that you know that in some time we can say, hey, we solidified this program of advocacy leaders, students, you know that can help us with these topics and we're in this semester, we're students, you know that can help us with, uh, with this topics and, uh, we're in in this.

Speaker 2:

This semester we were, like you know, piloting some of some of those things so that we can like create it into a program where I'm going to be going to Austin, to the Capitol, to talk to lawmakers. So that's also going to be, I think, very motivating for for the students, and I think the more that they see that they can actually open those doors, because at the beginning they didn't really see it as like, oh, I can really see myself doing those things. And then it's like, well, you can, you know, and then you see, and that starts changing the mentality of like, what can be done, and I think that's very important for youth to realize that they have that power to do that. And then the other thing is that they become catalyzers, right, so it's not the same me or you going and talking to a teenager, right, as peer-to-peer type of communication, which I think it's also very, very important. And one thing that I can say, having worked for all this time.

Speaker 2:

Many of the programs that I worked on were involving youth and I think one of the main things was to make sure that their voices were included on the programs that get done, and I think that it's not possible to include them in everything right, it's not possible to include them in everything regarding education, but I think when it comes to advocacy, it's definitely possible to include them and to make them feel valued, and you know that they can have that impact and I'm very happy that you know we get to do that here and that we can get to engage them in that way.

Speaker 1:

I've been biting my tongue because I'm so excited about all the ways that we can partner that I usually interrupt and be like, oh my goodness, I've been trying to let you get it all out. Okay. So I'm hearing so many great things because we have a program that's actually called Structured and Smiling. But our foundations program focuses on kiddos, so ages seven to 17. And then we have our young adults program, which is like 17 to 27-ish give or take, and they all get told like there's different aspects of life. There's their personal stuff with their families, their relationships, there's their finances. They need to learn different areas. But not everybody is going to be culturally the same, so they need to think about what works best for them and how to like tailor that. But we work a lot with the kids on their personal branding so that way when they're filling out their applications, if they do want to go to college, they're very certain what they want to do. If they want to go to trade school, they don't feel like anybody's putting them down for it. If they decide none of that's for them and they're going into the military, they're confident, they're ready to go. So we do a lot of business coaching and training and Maya's Love had actually told me to check out your location because we're hosting a children's business fair this summer. So I'm super excited. I want to talk more. And then Alyssa had totally wanted to talk to you about it because she's doing all that advocacy with young adults here in San Antonio. So yes, we will totally talk more about adjusting this.

Speaker 1:

It's exciting to give kiddos education that piece. That's actually where we started Structure Innovations, because for us SI education empowers the kids. But if you can't empower each of the adults, that mindset to empower those kiddos and like, accept that part, it's kind of whole. So it takes people like you scaling that in a way. And it's not to bring in money, it's not to benefit, it's to help grow the community. What benefits them, it's really empowering and it's giving people ownership over their education and advocacy. So which connects that bigger to a bigger question, I guess for me, when it comes to investing in outside marketing firms like you talked about and telling stories for other schools, why do you believe that the best storytelling comes from within the community itself and what practical steps can organizations take to harness that power for themselves?

Speaker 2:

I think I mean, it's just the fact that they have compelling narratives, so to speak, right, like just the stories are like, without even prepping or anything, the stories are there and there's a lot of power to that. I think then the challenge sometimes becomes for maybe the school staff or the nonprofit staff is like okay, so how do I actually like capture that? The nonprofit staff is like okay, so how do I actually like capture that? Because that becomes like sometimes it's like, oh, I know that there's so many stories, but and and I can say the same thing for me when I started, because I was like, oh, when I went to visit all the campus and I was asking why are you here, what is it that you liked? And I'm like there's so many good ones, like you know, and very powerful ones. I think what I would say is that's the main reason, because it's a real voice. Now, how do you translate that into like a practical thing? I think the best thing is to just start identifying the voice, right, so the person that can be that representative, because I think the first thing is, for example, for our school, whether our parents or our students, like there's so many, so many of them. But you need to narrow it down to the one, that's who's comfortable with sharing that story Right? Who? Who? Who feels that their story is going to have that impact, because we don't want to comment and say, hey, your story is great, you should share it Right. Like we want for them to recognize the fact that if someone had told them that that would have been you know much better. For them to recognize the fact that if someone had told them that that would have been you know much better. For them, like you know, it's like sometimes they come here and many times it tells I wish I knew, like I had known before, and it's like well, it's not too late because you're here, you know. But I think once they realize that it's, they're on their own, like with the kids, we see it, you know it's uh. And if it comes naturally to the point that they say like, hey, if, if my friends had known about this, or I know so many kids are not much older than me that would have benefited from this, right, um, so I think that's once you identify the voice is then kind of uh, yeah, making sure that the, that the, the person is comfortable with that and they see that value on their own.

Speaker 2:

And then it's taking use of the social media platforms and the technology that there is, you know, ai, editing videos, like all this stuff. That it's like our lives, whether you're an adult, and especially if you're a teenager. It's like social media is like so embedded. We're like almost cyborgs, with like a little machine next to us all the time. Right, like it's very close to that. But but so if that is how we're like getting information and this is the new way to go about it, it's like we need to maximize the use of those free platforms. I think the more that one can use those platforms, the better, right, because there's ways in which the algorithm works and so on.

Speaker 2:

But I think don't be shy to share stuff. I think you know you can always improve along the way and the improvement will be the quality of the content, right, so that content creation becomes better the more that you do it. But the story is powerful from day one. You know the story is just powerful. Like you can always improve the light, you can improve the quality, you can improve the setting, but the story is powerful. So I think if you want to start doing advocacy or engaging your community and you take that approach of like let me not not be so afraid of trying things and let me go and try to capture some stories.

Speaker 2:

I think many people also feel like it has to be the perfect story, you know, like, oh, you cannot make a mistake.

Speaker 2:

Or you know it's, oh, it's going to take too long to film it, and and sometimes it's kind of like the more raw it is, the better it will be.

Speaker 2:

And I think then one needs to pair it with like, you know, how do you then start doing like a further analysis into what might be the best ways with social platforms are the best, but I think if someone just wants to give it a try, they will realize that it's something simple to do. And then I think, going back to the partnerships, because this is like such an important thing and I think I cannot, like you know, understate this because or I cannot overstate it rather is that partnerships are so important, partnerships are so, so important. So if you feel like perhaps there is not technology, technologically you're not there, but you can get the, get the, get the stories you know, or you need some type of support, is there's always organizations around that will be that you can collaborate with and and in that sense, you're also part of the digital leadership cohort with with good beats and you know, there's these opportunities that are also available, and we'll be hosting some of those here.

Speaker 2:

at least one of them, I believe, is april 19th that we're going to be hosting this. We'll be hosting some of those here At least one of them, I believe. It's April 19th that we're going to be hosting this. We'll be going to be sharing on our social media, but that is a great opportunity. That's like the perfect opportunity for you to come by and realize of like, first of all, that you're not alone.

Speaker 2:

There's more people that are interested in doing this and that that creates also a community, but that it's simple, like. It's something simple to do and we should not be kind of making it look hard. I think the more tools that we can share with the community so they can see how simple these things are, I think the better off that we are. I mean, the same thing goes for the Puro community, like. I think the more that we can share these ideas, because this idea might not translate exactly to another school, right, but it's the thought of like I could think of something different to make, you know, bring attention to this topic, so, but I think that's a good way for them to engage.

Speaker 1:

So, yeah, it's bringing that awareness or that common ground. That's actually how this podcast started that awareness or that common ground. That's actually how this podcast started. So structuring chaotic minds was meant to bring awareness to mental health and to leadership. As an individual who's bipolar I'm also ADHD, my son's high functioning autistic and has struggled with his own mental health journeys we joke around and say my daughter's the only sane one out of us for the cases, but I've always managed to accomplish my goals and I still got stuff done. So that's actually quite uncommon for people. Let's see one of the opposite when it's bipolar and it comes in waves and different things. But for me, the most empowering thing was hearing other individuals who had struggled with their mental health journeys and then seeing them on the other side. So I was like you know what, we'll keep doing it, I'm gonna start doing it. And it's really impactful for me when I get an email from a listener saying hey, just so you know, I'm bipolar as well and I never even knew that, or a former client or something like that. I or client or something like that. I'm like you never shared that. No, I was kind of embarrassed but I figured with you going through the journey and the struggle. Thank you so much. That empowered me. I wanted to do it and that's why I keep showing up and then, as an educator, as a leader, showing people like this stuff is possible for anybody. You just have to learn the steps and break it down. But there's consistency, there's a structure, there's an approach to it. So I love that because it really does empower people to know it's possible. I may not look like you, but it's still possible for me too. So that that's really I don't know. I love that.

Speaker 1:

A lot of organizations underestimate that power and it's really about amplifying those voices that are already there. So amplify them in a way. But you're not wrong, you kind of got to pull it out of those people that are already there. So amplify them in a way. But you're not wrong, you kind of got to pull it out of those people that are actually comfortable. So, thinking of that, I know you've started mentioning some of the stuff that we're involved in as well as, like good beats and the events that we're going to be having. But what can listeners do now? What can they actually start doing? We covered a lot today from public education, what it means beyond school advocacy works and the real impact of daily lives. So for our listeners this might be eye-opening. What do they need to actually do in the meantime? What action can they take this week to start making a difference? Something small, but still impactful?

Speaker 2:

I mean, I would say that if you're an educator or if you work in a school, I would say that if you're an educator or if you work in a school, identify a parent or a student or a teacher, like someone within your school, which is your community, who has a story to tell or, you know, would like to share a story. I think that would be like the number one step that one can say, ah, maybe they just listened to this and they're like, hey, I already know of Hook. Can say, ah, maybe they just listened to this and they're like, hey, I already know of Hook. For the nonprofit, I would say that it's important to maybe stop, before you go and hire another external agency, to take a step back and think about what you have already within your organization. Right, and that might be a way in which you you know you can end up saving money, and I think all nonprofits can benefit from that.

Speaker 2:

I think, like you know, or come and join us on April 19th, realize, like you know how simple some of these things, you know how much money you can be saving. So I think, for a parent or a student, I would say that engaging with your, any parent groups that there might be at the school, any student groups as well, or student clubs that there might be, I think this is a great way for them to start having a voice and that will help the educator, the teacher, to realize who's there that is willing to share, or the teacher to realize who's there that is willing to share it. Because, as I say, there's many good stories, but I think it's important that they are really willing to share and they feel comfortable with doing so, like you just mentioned about like hey, you know, it's like if you're bipolar, I might not feel so comfortable sharing it with everyone, but I can feel comfortable sharing it with you, and I think that's the idea we want that to be like natural right, like you should not be forced to do this, because then it kind of goes against the principle. And I think there's all kinds of people. Some of them are like very like introverted, very shy, they don't want to, and some of them are like let me go and share. So we want to like be able to make it like a pleasant experience as well.

Speaker 2:

And I think, if you're just a community, just look out any community-based activities, events that there might connect with organizations that are in your area, and I would say not even to receive or to support what they're doing, but maybe it's even just to receive the services, and maybe once you go and see that there's those services out there, then the next step will be for you to tell that story about how great it was. So I think that will be like practical ways in which they can get engaged. And, as I said, on the 19th we're going to have the training here. So if you're in San Antonio and there's also going to be some other dates, so a very practical way to get engaged or to maybe do a few of these things in preparation to that, to that and um and uh, come by and and and get that support as well I love that you pointed that out before we go into the last piece and I actually hold people accountable and do the call to action.

Speaker 1:

I just wanted to point out that some people are introverts, some people are extrovert and some people believe that other people are extrovert because of the skills they've developed over the time yeah, I'm one of those, yeah yeah, I always spoke up when I saw something wrong and that's what my my family will always joke about it.

Speaker 1:

If I see if nothing's broken, I'm chill, I'm in the back like I want to play.

Speaker 1:

I'm a big kid and I want to play around all day long. But if something's broken broken well, then I go into like I need to fix it mode. Then you hear me talking the whole time, but sometimes the way I talk can come out brash or it's just not working for other people and it's had to be skills that I've had to acquire over time, not for me to be digestible for other people, but for other people to actually process what I was saying and not just tune me out because of their own beliefs, and I found ways to be more impactful for that. So I love what you're doing with the kiddos. Can you share a little bit more just a little bit more detail about what your school is going to be doing to teach kids how advocacy part for themselves? Because that part was really exciting for me hearing that you're teaching kids those skills now and then later they can actually start putting that into focus. That's not something that everybody is naturally good at.

Speaker 2:

We learn it over time yeah, what we are starting to do this semester is with a small group of where we're calling our advocacy leads, our advocacy students. We're students, we're doing it, we're approaching it in a very kind of casual way. We did not want it to be oh, this is the program and this is but rather kind of be very inclusive so that we can incorporate their voices. So what we did was, exactly, go to our principal and have them identify those voices, those students, and then we started working with them slowly. Now the first thing that we're doing is, as I said, going to Austin so they're going to be able to talk to lawmakers and tell them about how they're benefiting from coming to Triumph, how public charters helps them achieving their goals. That is the way in which we're kind of like building up to that and what we said to them.

Speaker 2:

We started with like three and what we said to them is we want you to be that kind of representative and then start developing a program that actually engages things like social media, content creation, podcasting, kind of all these technologies available so that they can use it as a way to express themselves.

Speaker 2:

So we're trying to give them a voice, in the sense of like we're recording a message right, that they're like speaking out, so there's like that, there's a voice in that sense. But really what we want to do is give them a voice in the creation process of the program, right. So that's kind of what we're aiming at, so that with this initial set of students we can develop that, because we cannot bring all the students, we cannot incorporate everyone, but we want to make sure that, like it's a peer led kind of thing, right, so that it's not just us developing it. The first thing is going to be giving them skills on how to do like video editing, like basic video editing, thinking about how they could just basic things on storytelling, for example. Right, like some of the actually on the during the, the, the academy that we share, we talked about a lot of those things, right, like kind of having, like your elevator pitch your.

Speaker 2:

So we're giving them skills that are practical for them to communicate the message, but we're getting giving them also freedom so that they can participate in how that message looks. So it's not about just like this is the message, but they might want to showcase that message in a particular way. They might want to use specific colors they might want to use. So we want to allow creativity. So that's one of the things. That is like giving them a voice, make it participatory and make it a creative, a creative process. So we'll see how that is going to end up like looking like a structure. But the first thing is to, as I said, give them those spaces for them to communicate and then to start get content so that we can distribute it on social media. Regarding those stories, those those stories and I and I love, I would love to connect with you and with alisa further on on that, because that would be a great way for them to also, uh, realize what you know it's being done, what, what it's possible.

Speaker 1:

So yeah, it's. It's funny how much her stuff has moved in just the last year, with her starting her pieces and really grasping. That Funny thing is she had a lot to say. She just I would always say like she would just thought she needed to stay in the shadow, didn't really trust her voice quite yet, but as she showed up to more and more spaces she's definitely evolved through that. So it's exciting to watch that and I love how you're tailoring it to your families and your kiddos and your students.

Speaker 1:

One of the business owners that I coach mentioned on our webinar yesterday that she tailors her entire staff to ask what do they want to be three, five years from now? So that way she can actually tailor their jobs to include some of those responsibilities. That's kind of what you're doing for the kids. You're letting them test and trial what actually feels good, so that way they're not fixated on one particular path and they're familiar with a lot of them. So you open more doors, you're giving them more options.

Speaker 1:

All right, guys, audience, I'm going to challenge you guys. Do that one thing Learn that story, learn that family, that kiddo, learn, connect with them, know where they're going and if you're a leader or a boss. Learn your staff, learn their story, learn why they're there. What is it about your company that makes them want to keep showing up? What is it about the mission? Learn that story, make that time, make that connection and then let us know. But it actually for me. Dm on the Instagram. I want you to comment on the episode post, I want you to tag me in LinkedIn and I want you to tell me what did you learn from those conversations? And keep it real outside this podcast. I want to actually apply that. Nestor, before we wrap up, where can people connect with you, like learn more and support your advocacy work?

Speaker 2:

They can check out at SAPICBS. So SAPICBS, those are handles on social media. We're super active. So if you want to know what we're up to, you'll get a daily update there on what we're doing, whether it's LinkedIn, instagram, facebook. You can look us up, you can go to our website, it's sappycbsorg. You can also look me up on LinkedIn to connect and you can look me up as Nestor Esparza Magaña and send me an invite and we can also connect and collaborate that way.

Speaker 1:

I'll be sure to put all that information in the show notes. So, guys, be sure to check the show notes if you didn't catch how he was spelling out the websites and the domains. I know sometimes those can get a little cluttered in the podcast and such. So, all righty folks, well, that wraps up today's episode of Structuring Chaotic Minds. If this episode made you think or you realize how much power you actually have, please don't keep it to yourself. Share it.

Speaker 1:

I want you to share this episode with a friend, post about it and let's keep this conversation going. Follow us on social media, at Structuring Chaotic Minds on Instagram, and then you can stay up to date with new episodes. You can also go to our website and sign up for our subscription so we can go ahead and let you know when the next episode comes out and, if you haven't already, go ahead and subscribe and leave a review. That's how we get these important ideas and what you guys want to hear more about. We get it to you guys based on what we're hearing you say. Thank you again, nestor, for joining us. It has been a very insightful conversation. I'm excited to talk even more after this.

Speaker 2:

We should do another one.

Speaker 1:

Yes, thank you for tuning in all of you. Until next time, keep questioning, keep learning and keep making an impact. Thank you for tuning in to Structuring Chaotic Minds. If today's episode resonated with you, don't forget to subscribe, share and leave a review. Remember the key to success is not avoiding chaos, but learning how to structure it. Stay inspired, keep growing and join me next time as we continue to transform challenges into opportunities. Until then, take care and keep structuring your chaotic mind.

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