By Gina Ha, Family Leadership Director

90 hours, 23 days, 22 weeks, 6 months.  What would you do with that amount of leisure time?  Watch a television series?  Read a couple of good books?  Take some well deserved naps?

[caption id="attachment_2902" align="aligncenter" width="700"] The 2016 PLTI Graduates with program facilitators and Rep. Cynthia Stafford[/caption]

Well, a group of parent and child leaders chose to strengthen their civic skills through our Parent Leadership Training Institute (PLTI) and Children's Leadership Training Institute (CLTI) programs.  The programs provide a safe space for families who would likely have never interacted outside of class, to overcome barriers together and find common ground about important issues that affect our children and communities.  Sessions include "The Intentional Use of Language", "The Power of the Media", "How the State Works", and "Evaluation, Outcomes, and Accountability".

This year's graduation was held at Inhale Miami in Little Haiti and was a breath of fresh air.  The ceremony began with a beautiful song, wonderful keynote speech and words of wisdom from State Representative Cynthia Stafford, and ended with some dancing and delicious food.  The resonating message of the night was that it is not about what you do not have but what you do have, it takes a village but we need to contribute to this village of ours, "this land is mine" and we have every right to improve conditions for all.

[caption id="attachment_2903" align="aligncenter" width="700"] The 2016 CLTI Graduates with program facilitators and Rep. Cynthia Stafford[/caption]