Despite being just 30 years old, Jose Barrera sits atop the leadership ranks in LULAC, or the League of United Latin American Citizens, as the Chairmen of the California LULAC Foundation and National Vice President for the Far West Region. He is currently the youngest person and first DACA recipient to have held three leadership roles in LULAC.
Outside of volunteering for LULAC, he’s also worked as a political organizer since 2021 for SEIU-UHW, one of the largest unions of hospital workers in the Western United States.
According to his own mentor, Dave Rodriguez, who was LULAC’s last National Vice President for Far West Region, he always knew “JB” would be a leader.
“Jose is an outstanding young man,” said Rodriguez. “He is honest, has integrity, and he follows through. And that applies not only to how I know him personally as a friend but it also applies to his leadership in the organization.”
This natural sense of leadership has deep roots, extending all the way back to Barrera’s childhood.
“I was in high school when I first heard about LULAC,” Barrera said. “There was a morning program that was on the radio called ‘La Voz del Pueblo’, or ‘The Voice of the Community’, and it was anchored by a man named David Cruz… At one point I’d listen to the segments at like five, six in the morning, getting ready for football practice or school. And he [Cruz] mentioned LULAC, and said it’s an organization that really focuses on advocating for the Latino community, and I took that as he’s looking to invite people to join.”
Barrera said he first got involved by organizing a LULAC Youth Council and working on multiple community issues, such as organizing beach cleanups, scholarship fundraisers, support for displaced families, youth conferences about leadership development, and school tours.
Originally from Oxnard, Barrera explained how his humble upbringing in an immigrant family gave him the commitment to education and empowerment that he still carries with him today. Despite speaking Spanish as his first language and not even learning English until grade school, Barrera pushed himself through the ESL curriculum and became involved with different sports, clubs, and organizations through the support of his parents.
Later on, he went to college at UC Davis, where he studied political science and Spanish, was involved in community service, and interned at the Sacramento-based public relations firm Mercury Public Affairs.
“The interest has always been to work in politics and help shape policy ever since I was in high school, to better the lives of my community,” said Barrera. “…Spanish has been the most useful tool for me to really tie in and understand the needs of my community… and being able to speak it in a professional and educated manner has been really beneficial for me when it comes to advocating for Spanish speaking communities as well.”
Soon after, Barrera pursued this advocacy through his work with SEIU-UHW, where he collaborated with politicians in order to create policy solutions for issues affecting the Latino community, including health, education, housing, and civil and immigration rights.
“When you meet him, you automatically see he’s a very friendly person, and he connects with the issues that they care about,” said Rodriguez. “Jose keeps a very keen eye on what happens in the state and how it affects our community.”
Amidst the recent rise in federal attacks against the Latino and immigrant community, Barrera has become heavily involved with LULAC’s response by organizing immigrant rights trainings, advocating for lawsuits against the Trump administration, developing a legal defense fund, establishing financial and legislative partnerships, and coordinating the communications with the press and between the national and state chapters.
“It’s difficult to see our communities be impacted, especially when it hits very close to home,” said Barrera. “You see your community where you grew up, and neighborhoods that you’ve walked and you spent time in being taken over and painted as a war zone. It’s heartbreaking. And the best thing that you can do is take that day by day… and ensure that you’re in the best shape so you can support the folks that you represent.”
Besides his work in policy, Barrera continues to contribute to his community by taking a grounded leadership approach focused on fostering the youth and preparing the next generation of leaders.
Emma Manoukian Chung, a political consultant at BCFS Public Affairs who serves alongside Barrera on LULAC’s California Foundation Board, said it is this leadership style that sets him apart.
“You see your community where you grew up, and neighborhoods that you’ve walked and you spent time in being taken over and painted as a war zone. It’s heartbreaking.”
“They [students] feel very drawn to him and eager to get to know him more,” said Chung. “And so even though he’s grown and developed into quite the leader at LULAC, he’s on stage speaking to large crowds, no one is intimidated to come and speak to him after and that’s a really special quality. He’s already become an incredible mentor to the younger leaders and students.”
His talent for leadership is evident in how hordes of students follow him around at every LULAC convention, Chung said.
According to Delma Gorostieta, who was LULAC’s previous National Vice President for Young Adults, his connection to younger people in LULAC shone through in their immense support for his campaign for his current position.
“He’s a natural born leader, and I think it’s because he just has those qualities of, not just being a great public speaker, but always willing to donate his time and talk to people,” said Gorostieta. “He can go from any kind of room and be able to talk to different people and relate to them as well…He’s really good at amplifying other people and just making really genuine connections.”
Barrera has made many of these connections by spearheading LULAC’s youth civic engagement fellowship, a program that teaches students about the political and legislative processes in order to equip them for future political engagement, according to Chung.
Describing him as “equally sharp and impressive but also humble”, Chung added that his leadership skills have set a good example for LULAC’s youth to follow.
“He does a really good job of delivering results on behalf of the different boards that he’s on, building coalitions, identifying the right people that need to be brought to every conversation, and then making sure that their feedback is implemented,” said Chung. “He also has been part of shaping a lot of really important conversations in California already.”
For example, Barrera worked last year with LULAC to advocate for the passing of SB 1193, which banned the sale and distribution of leaded aviation gas in California, as the gas had been polluting airports in various counties with large Latino populations.
With this being his fifteenth year in LULAC, Barrera added that it has been both the core mission — to “enhance Latino’s economic, educational, political, housing, health, and civil rights through community programs” — and the community that he’s built that’s kept him there.
Since the California Legislature’s return to session in August, Barrera has continued pursuing this mission by helping to coordinate LULAC’s advocacy efforts for six bills within the recent wave of immigration-related legislation.
All of these bills — SB 805, SB 81, SB 580, SB 294, SB 627 and SB 805 — have since passed and been enacted into California law.
More recently, Barrera has been working to organize workers in San Diego to join SEIU-UHW and finalizing plans for LULAC’s annual spring conference.
While LULAC is currently working on a variety of issues, Barrera noted that they are primarily focused on advocating for the passing of Prop 50.
“We look at it from a lens of representation as a Latino organization, when Texas has cut the possibilities to have more Latino representation in a state [where] that is the largest demographic,” said Barrera. “California is taking steps in ensuring that there’s more fair representation across our congressional delegations. So for us, it just makes sense to support Proposition 50, given the imbalances that we’re facing.”
In terms of his future plans for his personal career, Barrera is not leaving running for office off the table — but his current focus lies elsewhere.
For example, he has upcoming plans to do tours around different high schools in California, where he will give his perspective and a history lesson on Latino civil rights to students.
“Right now, the sky is the limit,” said Barrera. “However, my real passion lies in mentoring the next generation of young leaders, and that’s where I put a lot of my free time in — to ensuring that we’re able to mentor new people to run for office… pursue their educational career goals, and develop in their own spaces.”
Emily Hamill is an intern with Capitol Weekly’s Public Policy Journalism Internship program.
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