Guest Opinion | Yarma Velázquez, Ph.D: Pasadena Needs Voces Unidas

Pasadena’s Latino community deserves an organization that advocates beyond linguistic difference. While language access remains important, Latino families are not defined solely by translation needs or bilingual communication. Our community deserves representation, advocacy, and partnership that recognizes the full scope of our contributions, aspirations, and leadership.

This is why Voces Unidas is so important.

For many years, Latino parents in the Pasadena Unified School District have shown up for their children despite longstanding inequities and limited investment in outreach and engagement. Families have advocated for stronger schools, safer campuses, equitable resources, and opportunities that prepare students for college and careers. Yet too often, parent engagement has been inconsistent, fragmented, or limited to moments of crisis rather than supported as an ongoing partnership with the community.

Voces Unidas represents a commitment to a stronger Latina/o Pasadena — one that builds meaningful relationships between families, schools, and the Pasadena Unified School District through sustained community engagement and parent advocacy.

Parent advocacy matters because educational outcomes improve when families are informed, organized, and connected to schools. Across the country, Latino parent organizations have demonstrated the power of community-based engagement through workshops, campus outreach, leadership development, and educational advocacy. These efforts help families navigate educational systems, support student achievement, increase participation in school decision-making, and strengthen connections across campuses.

Pasadena needs that kind of organized, community-rooted effort.

For months, parent leaders have met regularly, visited schools, and supported local events while building a network of connection, collaboration, and support across campuses throughout the district. Their work reflects a deep commitment to students, families, and the broader Pasadena community.

Through extensive outreach across different campuses, Voces Unidas can help ensure that Latino families are engaged year-round, not just during elections or district controversies. It can help parents better understand educational pathways, advocate for rigorous academic opportunities, and elevate the voices of families who have too often been overlooked.

This work is about more than representation. It is about building a healthier educational ecosystem for all students.

Latino families are deeply invested in the future of Pasadena and the success of the Pasadena Unified School District. They are workers, parents, business owners, educators, volunteers, and community leaders who want strong public schools and opportunities for the next generation. Supporting Voces Unidas means supporting a vision of Pasadena where Latino parent leadership is cultivated, community engagement is intentional, and educational advocacy is sustained across every campus.

For too long, many Latino families have experienced periods of underinvestment and limited engagement in their neighborhoods and schools. Pasadena now has an opportunity to move forward with a renewed commitment to community partnership and educational equity.

Voces Unidas has the potential to strengthen communication, expand parent advocacy, and deepen relationships across school communities throughout Pasadena Unified. I am excited to welcome them to the district.

Pasadena Unified School Board Member Yarma Velázquez, Ph.D represents District 7