Opportunity Details

The Roberto Gracia Memorial Scholarship is named after one of CLYLP’s most dedicated volunteers. From a young age, it was clear that Gracia was passionate about helping others. After graduating high school, he served in the United States Air Force and later began a career with the State of California Employment Development Department in Riverside. A promotion with the EDD led to a move to Sacramento. In Sacramento, he networked with other Chicano professionals who shared a vision of improving the lives of Latino families across California. He devoted much of his free time to meeting with teachers, legislative aides, and leaders to strategize on ways to improve the future for Chicano/Latino youth. It was during this time that he met Maria Chairez and together, with the help of other Latino professionals and political organizations, they formed the first Chicano Latino Youth Leadership Conference. Since then, the organization has expanded and became known as the Chicano Latino Youth Leadership Project with over 6,000 alumni and counting. The mission of the conference was, and has remained to prepare Chicano/Latino youth to participate in California politics and open doors for the underrepresented community. Gracia was a driving force that never let the success of the program change the mission.