By Alma Campos

His grandfather, who never let him win at board games, always told him to never give up; and this advice has served him well throughout his life. Juan F. Soto is an immigrant from Durango, Mexico, who had to endure many difficulties to settle in United States. He faced racial discrimination but remembered the advice from family members and overcame many obstacles. He attended public school and graduated from the University of Illinois at Chicago, with a degree in business marketing.

When he attended the National Leadership Training program of Gamaliel in 1991, he realized that he wanted to carve his way as a community organizer and was hired as such for the Pilsen Neighbors Community Council (PNCC), a neighborhood organization in Chicago that is predominantly made up of Mexican immigrants.

PNCC deals with immigration reform, funding for education, fairness in transportation, economic development, and health issues. Its mission is to work with community leaders with two goals: to establish policies and practices that achieve justice and fairness, and to train the community of faith to invest in the development of community leaders and pastoral agents through formation and action. After demonstrating his ability to make significant changes at the local and state levels, Soto was appointed executive director of PNCC. He successfully fought for the passage of a 2003 Illinois state law allowing undocumented students of Illinois to pay in-state tuition and not the higher rate for non-Illinois residents. “The community organization was the vehicle that led me to be faithful to my values,” Soto comments.

Soto is the director of Gamaliel in Illinois, as well as Gamaliel Metro Chicago, whose mission is to establish bridges between African Americans and Latinos in Chicago’s south suburbs, and work together on issues that affect both communities. Gamaliel is a grassroots network of non-partisan, faithbased organizations in the United States, United Kingdom, and South Africa that organizes citizens to effectively participate in the political, environmental, social, and economic decisions affecting their lives. Gamaliel provides leadership training, helps build community organizations, and leads local and national social justice campaigns.

Soto is also the national director of Gamaliel’s Civil Rights of Immigrants department. At the beginning of the year, this department launched the “Dream for All” campaign, to support comprehensive immigration reform providing a pathway to citizenship for 11 million undocumented in the country. Soto trains organizers at the local and national levels for the Gamaliel Network, which represents more than one million people; and is the director of Gamaliel’s National Leadership Training in Spanish.

In addition, Soto oversees Fiesta del Sol, the largest Latino festival in the Midwest, which attracts over 1.3 million people each year. Over the past 20 years, he has been the executive director of this event, which is an economic engine, supports the creation of many small businesses, has helped create jobs, and at the same time serves as a fundraiser for PNCC.

Throughout his career Soto has never forgotten his grandfather’s advice, which is why he has never ceased in his efforts and commitment.

 

 

 

Celebrating 10 years of service to Hispanic youth!