As a daughter of immigrant parents, Elsa Oliva Rocha has organized for equity and justice at the age of sixteen. As a high school student leader, Elsa was involved in campaigns to improve the conditions at her school, West High School in Denver, Colorado. Elsa was the first in her family to graduate from college. She went on to graduate from Metropolitan State University of Denver with a Bachelor’s in Sociology and Spanish. Before joining Padres & Jóvenes Unidos, she was the Program Coordinator for the Promotora project at Clínica Tepeyac.
Elsa joined Padres & Jóvenes Unidos in the fall of 2013 as a youth organizer and since then has helped lead youth and parent led-campaigns, as well as building the internal infrastructure of the organization. Elsa joined the leadership team of Padres & Jóvenes Unidos in 2007 as the Operations Director and later became a Co-Executive Director in winter 2016. As a working class Chicana, Elsa is committed to organizing alongside community members to make long-term systemic change to improve the lives of her friends, family and neighbors. She lives in Denver with her daughter and husband, and enjoys dancing and spending time with her family.
What are you looking forward to as a fellow of TLC?
“As a fellow of Transformative Leadership for Change, I hope to gain internal capacity to allow me to build power in Colorado in order to make true meaningful change. I want to build a network of like-minded organizations, as well as build partnerships with funders and political leaders who share my vision of a true democracy for all people of color, working class families, the LGBTQ community and immigrants.“