hello and welcome to comunidad del valle. i'm damon trujillo. this is your comunidad del valle. it's empowering students through service and education. the agency is called build on. back here on our show, comunidad del valle, jorge gomez, a senior at skyline college. you'll hear his story and jay with build on. welcome to the show. tell us, first of all, about

build on. we downloaded video from your website. it builds future leaders. >> build on is working to break the cycle of poverty, illiteracy and low expectations. we have after school programs in urban cities across the united states. we mobilize students to get out into the community and provide community service. intensive community service to all sorts of community-based organizations. >> do you cherry pick who you want in your organization or how do you get involved? >> open enrollment. we focus on students that are going to embrace the opportunity as well as learn a lot from being part of the solution in the community. >> you were here last year and went on a trip to haiti. you helped build a school there. tell us what that experience was like. >> i went to haiti for two weeks. i went to a small town and when we were there we helped build a school along with the villagers. it was pretty awesome to make friendships that i will never

forget. then i learned about the culture there. we met a mid wife, a bread maker. we got to be a part of their daily life and build a school there. >> we had some students here last week, an agency. they did the same thing. i asked this question. what about your social media experience? the twitters and facebooks, things like that. >> we were there, we did not have technology. >> how hard was that? >> it was hard. we were there for a good cause, so it was worth it. we were there without internet or anything for two weeks. we didn't have our cell phones. we only had each other to communicate with. that was the best part. leaving everything behind in our house and making new memories. >> what does that teach you -- does it teach you to appreciate what you have here or especially in the silicon valley? >> it does.

when i got home, i was just like, i appreciate having a home that has running water, toilet. it was awesome to come home and appreciate what i have here. >> the agency called build on. what are we building on? a lot rests on the backs and shoulders of students like jorge, future leaders. >> build on is in 151 programs across the united states, 73 high schools. we've built over 525 schools internationally in six different countries. we're creating a movement. we're building on the people that want to make a change, want to be a part of solving some of the biggest problems in this world. >> some people might say, why don't we have these students help build schools, runaway schools in the states where i need them the most. i get maybe the comeback is students are going out and learning that experience and coming back to the states and doing what they have to do locally. >> i think that's exactly it.

our students when they go abroad, there's requirements before hand, when they do a workshop and understand what are the cultural differences they are going to experience. what's it going to be like without technology. there is a follow-up on what they experienced and how can they implement that into their daily lives and be part of that on a daily basis. >> you're having a gala, tell us about it. >> may 3rd in san francisco. over 500 people. it's going to be a great event. we have a student speaker from san francisco. our ceo will be there talking about his recent experiences. he just wrote a book. it will be a fun night. everyone open to the public. we hope to see you there. >> the website you can get more information. jorge, you're about to graduate. what's next for you? whatever is built on you is going -- you've got to take it to the next level. >> hopefully i will go and be

living in another country for a whole year. i will be doing an apprenticeship there. if not, hopefully i will go to college, hopefully humboldt. >> you realize one year without technology is going to be difficult for you. >> it's a different program. kind of like communicating with like the public way. our experiences are there. >> i think it's obvious but lastly, what kind of a difference do you think build on has made for you and what you're doing? >> it's made a really big difference. i have more passion about things i do. i'm more open minded. like, i'm more friendly. so it's pretty awesome. >> very good. congratulations. thank you for the work you do. there's the web address for buildon.org. any final thoughts before i let you go, jay? >> we'd love to see you there, it's a big event, all the funds go to the bay area. >> happening may 3rd in san francisco.

thank you so much for the work you're doing. good luck. up next on comunidad del valle, a free ride for college. going to be popular by the end of the show.

imagine getting a free ride for college. you heard that right. that's what they are doing at the college in the east bay. with me is the vice president of student affairs, dr. ron. welcome to the show. >> thank you. >> you're a popular guy. you come with good news. where were you when i went to college. >> i wish i was around for myself. >> this is a great endeavor by the foundation. tell us what you're doing brf it's really exciting. it's one of the first times we've done a reach out like this to high school graduates versus current students. this is designed to say you're graduating from high school. we want you to come with a promise you can stay with us for two years, full ride, tuition, fees and books. it's really to say if there's any desire that you have to come to college, we want to make it

happen. that came from really the hearts and minds of the folks donating to the foundation. >> that's what i wanted to get to. this the result of people kind of putting their money where their mouth is and saying i want to make a difference here. >> that's right. it really came from parents and faculty and community members seeing how difficult it was getting for students to get into college. they come into spring term. it's so difficult. they are applying to different schools. they are getting turned down. as you know, the economic situation in the states made it tough. they said we want to make a difference. lets make this more possible. instead of just a semester at a time, lets make a promise to these kids. >> what kind of education? >> sure. >> tell us what kind of education. >> we're known for our transfer rates. this is the first two years of a four-year degree. if they want to get that under their belt and done, this is an easy way for them to stay at home, through this get it paid

for. then everything they take is immediately transferable right into the four-year program. we also have a lot of transfer agreements where uc berkeley, uc davis is an example they use as well. if a student takes a set curriculum, they get a guaranteed admission into csu or uc. >> that alone -- what are we targeting, minimum is 2.5 but you'll make an exception. >> it is. we understand somebody might be working full time, have a family situation. we want to take that into account. if they have a reason why they maybe slipped, we want to hear that. the other thing we want to look at, if they are just below being able to qualify for financial aid, we want to look at that, too. >> sixteen students will qualify. >> sixteen is our first stab at it, kind of spread across the three areas of fremont, newark and union city but new haven

districts. we think that that excitement about that is going to grow. we'll have more donors and therefore we can then grow the program. >> this is a huge guarantee given the tate of higher education in general. community colleges, we all know what kind of hit you've taken and continue to take with the state budget. talk about the enormity of what you're offering here. >> i think the community knows that donating to something like this, there's no better way for them to invest in the tax base. these kids are going to go on and become citizens and contribute to the economy. you know, if you look at it in the longview, i think people realize, hey, this is the best use of my money right now. >> what kind of response have you gotten? it's an awesome thing that y'all are offering. this might even be a challenge to the other community colleges. >> i hope so. i can say for our foundation director, the response from our foundation was immediate and, yes, why didn't we think of that

before. it's the kind of thing where if you're interested in making a difference for a student and making sure they are going to be successful, here is a way you can make it happen, community colleges continue to be one of the best deals in town in terms of getting that first two years. if you compare what it's going to cost you to go to uc or csu, this becomes affordable, the scholarship makes it more so. >> how difficult to produce something like this, maybe folks with other community colleges across the bay area that might be watching and say, hey, it's a great idea. it's not easy, i imagine but possible. >> how to kick it off? >> right. >> i think throwing out the idea first. like i saidish the response we got from our existing foundation is, wow, we want to do this. this is a great idea. >> you need board members who are willing to roll up their sleeve and say lets do something about this. >> which ours were. >> so this agreement you have with these universities. >> right. >> this is guaranteed if you

apply yourself. >> all across the community college system, there are schools that develop tags or transfer agreements with different schools, where if a student takes a set curriculum through their first two years and makes the gpa, basically they are taking care of their first two years of a four-year degree at the community college. the other nice thing about that is, they are walking in as a junior. so they are walking in with a junior's priority registration rights. i have friends and neighbors that their kids are staying at uc or csu for a fifth and sixth year just because they can't get their courses. >> that's right. i wish you were around when i was thinking about it. there's information on your screen. you can e-mail them. what a great opportunity. no excuses. this is a free ride. >> appreciate it. thanks for being here. up next on comunidad del valle, next can consulate of san jose.

there's a diplomatic arm of the mexican government right here in the south bay. we're talking about the mexican consulate of san jose. they are scattered around the country. they are kind of like a mini embassy, if you will of the mexican consulate. the press consulate and welcome to the show. >> thank you. >> tell us about this concept of the mexican consulate. i describe them as mini embassies. is that maybe how you would describe them? >> well, a consulate provides mostly aid to mexican citizens, although we also give services to foreign nationals, which mainly to obtain visas in mexico. we have other services, too, we will explain in a moment. jorge will talk specifically on the economic promotion side,

which is something we do -- try to encourage. but the embassy is located in the capital city in washington, d.c. so the other branches in the country are consulates. we are one of them. >> i want to show some video, because there was a time a long time ago when the mexican consulate at san jose when somebody said oh, my god, it was a place where you did not want to go. it was crowded. sometimes the employees are rude. i'm talking about 15 years ago. that's not the case now. now you go in there and seems like people enjoy going there. talk about that evolution and how you are connecting with your constituents. >> in the past two years we moved to a different building. our facilities provide a lot of space. this helps to the provision of services. people are more comfortable and we are able to make our passports and consular id cards

in a more -- faster way. so this has helped a lot. we have also been able to network better in our new location with companies around the silicon valley. and we are currently doing several activities that are focused on this side. i think jorge would like to talk about it. >> i want to get to that next, but i want to point out last two were good about customer service. i think that's where we started seeing the difference between not liking going to the consulate and now appreciating what you do there. jorge, economic development is one of your mainstays here. i get a lot of e-mails and pictures. you have a lot of workshops on how to start your own business. talk about the purpose of that and how successful it's been. >> yes, of course. we realize that a lot of people

here, they mostly have one job and they decide to go and start their own business, but they don't know exactly the implications or what they have to do and they don't know how to reach out for help. so we design a workshop for people who want to initiate their own business. the purpose of this is to raise the standard of living of latinos. we want to help the local community, to empower them, and to give them the tools in order to be successful. the workshop lasted for four months. we got experts from different fields. we got from marketing, a group of lawyers, accountants. we got alternate sources of funding. of course we got questions about social security, if somebody didn't have social security, if they could still start a business. so we got a lawyer specializing

in those type of issues. people were amazed and surprised of the opportunity they could have. >> it takes courage. i see what the vietnamese immigrants have done in opening up their own shops. the sikh community, mexicanos. it takes courage, i came away, i'm going to start my own business and market it well and be successful. do you see in the people you're training that's the attitude they have? >> certainly. we're surprised at the response from the community. we're receiving calls from our counties and at the end we were surprised at the amount of effort that people would put into it. the business plans, people requesting funding to banks and other institutions and their response from those institutions to empower these communities but was overwhelming. i would say hispanics, latinos

are wonderful entrepreneurs. >> again, i think it takes a lot of courage. [ speaking spanish ] i admire your office for giving a helping hand. there's the web address, san jose office of the mexican consulate. we'll be back and talk more about the programs they have. stay with us. ♪

♪ [ male announcer ] now's the time to save 5% off every day with your lowe's consumer credit card. we're back with a representative of the mexican consulate right here in san jose. do you have -- >> financial education week is an effort we're doing for the second year in a row. this is meant to teach people how to manage their money. to help them learn about credit, loans, maybe get mortgages, to

just know how to manage their money at home. this is something that has got a good response from the community. we give several workshops and conferences. they started yesterday and they will be going on every day until friday the 26th. so we encourage people to check our website. they can see the activities and specific dates and times they will be offered. all our events are free and open to the public, so we encourage anyone, even if they are not mexican, they are welcome, they are latinas, they can come and learn what we are doing. >> sounds like you are making sure those citizens who are here become productive citizens and contribute in their local communities. >> yes. we believe that's an important part of our role. we are not here only to do passports and id cards as many

think. our services cover a broad range of issues. they are mainly focused on empowering people, empowering mexican american community through education, through health, through cultural events. there's several activities going on in these areas on an ongoing basis and many people don't know about them. check our website and give us a call. >> you go to them a lot, because i know that my family is from greenfield, so i know your office reaches greenfield and parts in between, a lot of the small farm communities. that's got to be crucial to be able to go to them instead of them coming to you. >> that's correct. we'll be visiting green field this saturday. >> nice. >> so we try to have at least one every month to reach out to people that can't come to our office in san jose because we cover four counties, santa cruz,

santa clara, monterey. we try to go once a month to a different city and offer exactly what we do here in san jose to them there. >> when we talk about economic development, have you seen any progress, jorge, how successful that's been? are people now opening up their own businesses or is it still in the stages they are getting loans and getting things signed off? >> we' seen, i think talking this issue with different chambers of commerce not only here in san jose and silicon valley but throughout california and their response is that hispanics are actually the economic growth power from the small businesses. so we are realizing we need to put more effort into empowering these entrepreneurs, making sure they have the tools they need to create an impact on the country. right now the numbers speak for themselves. california is one of the biggest contributors to the u.s.

economy. mexico is the biggest exporter from california. there are a lot of big opportunities going around and it's thanks to all these hispanics. >> i think i have time for one more question but let me ask you. sounds like you're not only helping mexicans living here but local companies by this networking process that you've established because you kind of filling them in on the talent pool you're creating and leadership you're creating. >> most definitely. we don't take into consideration the nationality. we welcome other nationalities, it doesn't matter. we go and take advantage, we provide services in spanish. some of them they do not know about the services that are offered english. so this opportunity that they have with us is very crucial for

them. what their office has been doing has been not only giving free advice one-on-one as a consultant type of service, but going personally to the locations of the businesses and giving them realtime advice what twhef to do. >> that's incredible. maria, do you have something else? >> just tell people they should come, visit our annual facilities, come to our office and find out what we are offering, the workshops, conferences, even, again, if you're not mexican, if you have an interest in mexico and its culture. we have a lot of information we can provide. we can connect you with the right people to answer your question. >> the customer friendly consulate of san jose. thank you vep much for what

you're doing. >> thank you. >> gracias. >> here is what's happening in your comunidad. celebrating a special day -- and drop us an e-mail if you have one for next week or you want to be a guest on comunidad del valle. there's my e-mail address,

follow me on twitter. my news handle is @newsdamian. pick up a newspaper and support bilingual newspapers across the area. thank you for sharing part of your sunday with us again.

>> kevin hart has a huge hit on tv, plus a big movie headed to theaters, but he's also in the midst of a controversy. >> they want to make something out of nothing. >> she's an entertainment icon who's never been shy or afraid to be her own person. and that didn't stop during our interview. >> you're always black. i've always been black, and i always knew it. >> and he's overcome abuse, addiction, and homelessness and become one of the favorite voices of a generation. have you been able to forgive those that abused you? you'll hear from them like never before, up next on "conversations." >> welcome. thanks for joining us.