Leadership Landing: Michael D. Rodriguez | Latino Leaders Magazine

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ichael D. Rodriguez doesn?t need to travel far to see the development?and improvement he and his staff are bringing about in the Little Village.

While walking down his own block, Michael can see the numerous?community projects bringing vitality and sustainability to this famous?Chicago community. From his own doorstep, Michael can even see a?new park space that will serve the young population of the Little Village for decades.

?We have the youngest population in Chicago with the least amount of park space?in Chicago,? he said. ?It?s an important development for our community, both to bring in?jobs, but also to add in park space in the community.?

As the Executive Director of Enlace Chicago, Michael is tasked with finding those economic?and altruistic balances. The long-time Little Village resident says that Enlace achieves?both by implementing ?comprehensive community development.?

That means one mission broken into four, manageable components: community enrichment,?education, violence prevention and economic development.

For Enlace and Michael, that simply means living out its namesake. Formerly Little?Village Community Development Corporation, Enlace (Spanish for ?link?) has worked to?bring together community residents with the organizations ? businesses, churches, government?entities, etc. ? that are providing resources to those who need them. In this way,?Michael says, Enlace builds long-lasting partnerships with the community and its enterprise.

Michael?s grassroots and organization background formed him well to be both neighbor?and director. Early in his career he worked for Alderman Ricardo Mu?oz, an opportunity?that proved more than fortuitous. It was during that time that the Depaul graduate saw an?organized hunger strike take place in La Villita. The demonstration showed Michael what a?community could do when it worked together to its own benefit.

?I think that when you think of self-interest of neighborhood residents and their ability?to fulfill that self-interest through their own agency, I think that?s a very empowering philosophy,??he said. It?s one that certainly requires resources, externally and internally. When?those external resources are provided by those people who perceive it as giving back, I think?that?s part of the broader spectrum of empowerment.?

Earlier this year, President Obama recognized Michael as a Champion for Change for?his and Enlace?s work to eradicate violence. Michael has been working toward this end since?he started out at Enlace as the director of violence prevention. This role was immediately personal,?as Mike has seen people close to him fall into gangs and other violent lifestyles.

In order to affect this change, Enlace focuses on violence prevention, which ultimately?impacts education, which will then affect community development and enrichment. Michael?says mentoring and less sophisticated methods have produced some amazing results.?By simply placing adults in key areas near schools, before and after, violence in those areas?has gone down by half, according to Michael.

?Part of our violence prevention model is very intentional about providing positive?adult-youth interaction,? he said. ?We think it?s extremely important that positive adult?characters are in the lives of all of our youth. We are outcome-focused in our programming.?It?s not about the inputs or outputs; it?s about the outcomes.?

And the outcomes are largely positive, but Michael?s desire to help build his community?isn?t waning. He?s eager to continue to share new experiences with his wife and infant?daughter and raise his family in the same, yet always-improving, Little Village he grew up in.

?When I go out to eat, I am literally in the midst of friends and people I think very?highly of,? he said. ?The vast majority of people in the community are hard-working immigrants?who care about quality of life and care about the quality of life for their kids.?

Source: http://latinoleaders.com/2012/10/03/leadership-landing-michael-d-rodriguez/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=leadership-landing-michael-d-rodriguez

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