ROCHESTER, N.Y. — It’s a Saturday morning and many students are at home. However, for several Rochester families, class is still in session.

What You Need To Know

  • The Greater Rochester Parent Leadership Training Institute (PLTI) is a local initiative of the National Parent Leadership Institute, an evidence-based program designed to increase parent involvement in community issues

  • This parent-informed, nonpartisan initiative aims to increase civic leadership, impact parents’ roles at home and in their communities, and train parents to become better advocates for themselves and their children 

  • Intentionally diverse cohorts learn strategies for community engagement in PLTI’s immersive 21-week program

“Today we really want to build relationships,” Greater Rochester CLTI coordinator Mildrena Vega said. “Today, we want to really get to know who children are as leaders, going to where they are along their leadership journey.”

Kicking off a 21-week training initiative, the Greater Rochester Parent Leadership Training Institute is launching the 12th Cohort of Civic Engagement Program.

“Empowering parents and encouraging them to be able to use effective communication and advocating in their community, as well as outsourcing, maybe community projects and things that are close to their heart to be able to implement for the city of Rochester,” Greater Rochester PLTI site coordinator Cheryl Wearen said.

Tackling issues from across the board like education, policies and community engagement, the organization is putting the power in the hands of the parents.

“The more parents are involved, the more you can be there for your children,” CLTI graduate Soraya Alvarez said. “You could be there for your community. We never know what kids are going through at a young age and just helping them develop any skills over time.”

It’s all about equipping participants with the tools to become effective advocates for children and agents of positive change by having their children right alongside them.

“It is two-generational,” Vega said. “So a lot of times some of the divide that we see is among the generations. Because they’ve grown up a certain way. They have different experiences. And I think that it is super important to kind of bring people together to be able to share those perspectives, especially in one household.”

Developing future change makers like students Soraya and Silas Alvarez. Starting around the age of 12, the program has given them a voice they never thought would be heard.

“[It] inspired me because I knew that from this program I can do great things in the community,” Silas said. “I know one of the big things recently become the student board member for the Greece school district. So I think that to me like saying, ‘yeah, you can do this, you can do the great thing that we want to be in the community’.”

“[It] inspired me to just be there for everyone in the society,” Soraya added. “I feel like we’re all here. We all like coming together, the community. We’re able to promote change. We’re able to do things in a community that we can’t do by ourselves.”

Understanding parents want the best for their children, the program has given them the tools they need to make sure that happens.

“They are the change makers, right,” Vega said. “It’s our community, our local officials. They should be honoring our voices and what we have to say about how our community should look. And so it’s super important that the residents of the community, the people of the community have a say and have a voice.”