Chanda Smith Baker: Hello, community. You are listening to Conversations with Chanda, where leadership gets real and personal. This is where we cut through the noise to confront the issues shaping our world and our community. From power and justice to the heart of community change. Hosted by me, Chanda Smith Baker, President and CEO of the Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation.
You know, leadership takes on all kinds of forms, and I just think it's so essential, particularly right now where people are just trying to figure out life, that they don't think leadership is just a set of accolades and beautiful moments. Mm. Um, because it's not, and there's no... I have found for me is that there are times where I enter a situation where I have no idea what to do, and then I pull on wisdom that, that comes from my body or comes from someone next to me.
And so it's very difficult to articulate, like, what my style or how I approach it, but do you have a way in which you do that?
Antonio Tijerino: Like a Basquiat painting is what you just described. It, it's a, it's a form of expression. I also wanna say, too, in this time that we're living in right now, um, l- leadership styles or how you show up as a leader is very revealing.
Chanda Smith Baker: Mm.
Antonio Tijerino: Like the Maya Angelou quote, people are showing who they are right now through their leadership or lack of leadership in this moment. And when people say, "Well, leadership is risky right now," for all the reasons that we know-
Chanda Smith Baker: Mm-hmm ...
Antonio Tijerino: well, there's a risk worth taking, which is the people that are at a greater risk than you are in your leadership position.
And that's how you take a profound look at the leadership inside of you, that then you have to radiate, which is exactly what you were saying, that expression that you need to put out there. And what's interesting is when people ask me, "What are those qualities that you have as a leader?" And the ones I name are usually pejoratives.
I'm naive. I'm impetuous. I'm impatient I'm a little, uh, reckless. Mm. Um, I'm audacious. Uh, and those are the things that are also my negatives. But you have to have some naivete to think you can do something that nobody thinks you can do. Um, and so I think these are qualities that are seen as negatives that should be brought out.
Impatience is an important quality of leadership. I'm so tired of people strategizing and going over one strategic plan after another on how to execute something. Meanwhile, you're gonna be patient with somebody going after the trans community and dehumanizing immigrants, or the racial injustice, or how women are treated?
Look what's happening right now in terms of sexism and violence against women. You wanna be patient with that? No. Be impatient with your activism.
Chanda Smith Baker: Yeah. How do you hold it all in balance? Because one of the words that just came up is ego, and, um, I had this very interesting conversation because often we think of some of those words as negative.
And, um, I can't remember who I was talking to, but they s- they basically said, "You have to have a strong enough ego," um, right? Like, you have to believe enough in yourself to take moves that, that you don't even believe are possible, right? Like, you have to have, like, enough of an ego to do that, but not so much that you disregard other people.
It has to be in balance.
Antonio Tijerino: See, I don't like the word ego. Mm-hmm. Although I do think it plays into a lot of different things, and you- Yeah ... almost have to push back against the ego part of it. Mm-hmm. Your motivation should be an irrational confidence in yourself- Mm ... in your community that you're serving, and in your colleagues around you, and in your partners, in philanthropy or with other, um, benef- benefactors that you have.
You have to have an irrational confidence to be able to have an impact at a time that impact is needed. Yeah. Ego is more of a self-motivated thing.
Chanda Smith Baker: Yeah.
Antonio Tijerino: My motivation is through somebody else. To me, that's, you have to fight the ego part to focus on those others that you're trying to help. Mm. Um, and distinguish from the two.
A lot of people don't.
Chanda Smith Baker: Yeah. Do you think, or any advice on- I have found that some people are so focused on the work that they forget the relationships
Antonio Tijerino: It's all about relationship. We were just talking about, shout out Laysha Ward.
Chanda Smith Baker: Laysha.
Antonio Tijerino: I've known her for many, many years. Those are real relationships.
Henry Jimenez, who brought us together, th- I have a real relationship when I come in here. He's built other relationships here in Minnesota. I told you I feel like I'm coming to an asado, uh, and, and everybody's showing me so much love at this cookout because I'm the one who's bringing the beer. Yeah. Um, I m- I'm made to feel that way.
That's how much, uh, uh, love I'm getting here. But it, it really is all about those relationships that are able to manifest themselves into action- Mm-hmm ... into vision, um, and into impact.
Chanda Smith Baker: Yeah. So it's clear to me that you've been to Minnesota before.
Antonio Tijerino: I love it here.
Chanda Smith Baker: Well, what brought you here this time?
Antonio Tijerino: This time is because PBS is doing a, a screening of the broadcast of the Hispanic Heritage Awards, which we brought here from the Kennedy Center.
And we came here, and we wanted to honor the people of Minnesota with a humanitarian award, along with the celebrities that we were honoring. And this is a tradition that has been around since Hispanic Heritage Mo- It's historical, the Hispanic Heritage Awards. They were started during the Reagan administration- Mm
in 1988 as a way to commemorate the, the, the creation of Hispanic Heritage Month in the country. So we're side by side with that. So this was the 39th annual. They've all been in Washington, DC, which is my hometown, and yet I was so overwhelmed with inspiration and with admiration for the people of Minnesota, 'cause if you're gonna go back in time, if you don't mind me doing that- Yeah
in February, we brought a delegation of Latino leaders to Minnesota to witness and to learn from and to listen to what was happening on the ground here in the middle of Metro Surge. We came because Henry Jimenez called us and said, "I see all the different tweets and of support and the messages of support, but nobody's been on the ground here."
Yeah. Um, "So we need to have a presence of national Latino leaders here." So he called Marla Balonick from NALCAB, and he called me, and we put together a group, and within a week, we had, like, 15 national leaders come down here, and it was pretty remarkable because there were a lot of others that wanted to come, but it was l- it was put together in less than a week.
Yeah. And on the ground, we had meetings with El Centro, with COPAL, with, um, all of these different groups that were doing the work, with the pastors, with the different immigrant groups, with the LGBTQ+ community, with the Lutherans, with... It was remarkable in terms of this makeshift structure that was put in place to address this crisis.
What I came away with, though, was inspiration. Uh, it, it, within that tragedy was a triumph, and I wanted to focus on the triumph. It's a, it's a great American story of what America is capable of in terms of bringing people together and looking out for each other, and I witnessed that here, and that's when we said, "We're gonna bring the Hispanic Heritage Awards, 'cause I wanna give an award to the people of Minnesota, and not just Latinos."
Mm. I wanna make sure to get everyone, African American community, the Asian community, the white community, the LGBTQ+ community, the Latino community, the different immigrant groups. Everyone came together. They got down, and we went back to Washington, DC, and I've been carrying a whistle in my pocket ever since, uh, just as a sign of, of solidarity with what everyone had been going through here.
Um, and so- Next thing you know, we showed up at Orchestra Hall. Y'all- You were there.
Chanda Smith Baker: I was there. Y'all showed up.
Antonio Tijerino: We We showed up and showed out.
Chanda Smith Baker: You all did. I walked in the door. So you know our lives are busy, right, as leaders, and you're like, "Okay, I got another evening. Let me- ... let me get this dress on. I gotta be there by 7:00.
They're gonna leave my ticket." So I'm rushing, I'm yelling at the Uber driver, 'cause they said be there by 7:00, you know? So I'm rushing. I come in, and it was... I was just met, just slapped, like just comforted, just blanketed. Like, it was... I was confronted with so much goodness and community and laughter and pride, right?
Mm-hmm. There are people that I see every day that are walking around, and they've been heavy. It's like, "How are you?"
Antonio Tijerino: Yeah.
Chanda Smith Baker: You know, "Are you doing okay?" It's like, you know, my community's in distress. And I'm watching some of them that have been leaders for a long time alongside me, right? Like, these, these aren't young leaders, some of them.
Mm-hmm. They were walking around almost on clouds. Like, like a, like giddy is the word that I wanna say, but it, it was the energy of being part of something- Mm-hmm ... right? With people that already get it. In a space where someone already knows, and you're not responsible for sharing and teaching.
Antonio Tijerino: You just articulated exactly what we were trying to do.
I mean, you just put it so perfectly, and that was the purpose. Mm. And it wouldn't have happened if we didn't have a host committee-
Chanda Smith Baker: Yeah ...
Antonio Tijerino: to make sure, 'cause you can come here all you want. You don't know what it's like to be a Minnesotan that has dealt with what's happened or what the communities are like, including the Chismas.
Mm-hmm. Um, so uh, but, um, Henry and the team put together a host committee of about 25 that have become close friends, and they were our Sherpas. They told us who to inv- And we also said, "We don't wanna invite the people that are always used to coming to Orchestra Hall." Um, we went out into different communities in the surrounding areas.
We even changed the name. It was supposed to be to the Twin Cities. Mm. And people said, "There are people that have never been to the Twin Cities- Oh, good point ... that are in areas that you, farming areas and other areas that, that you don't wanna miss." So we changed it to the people of Minnesota to get the award.
Yeah. Um, and we've never done that before. We wanted to make sure... Like, we went to visit this school that had a large number of youth that were, um, I- I'll say the word orphaned even though because of the raids, that their parents are gone, and these heroic teachers are working with them. Um, we invited the entire school.
Chanda Smith Baker: Mm.
Antonio Tijerino: And we invited everyone that worked at the school and the, and whatever parents were around. We wanted to make sure that the community that was affected are, is the community that we wanted to honor. Um, and so we went through the very painstaking process of trying to design an award to have everyone come up from the audience, which is not easy to do- It was beautiful
'cause it has to be coordinated, um, and to go up on stage. And Los Tigres Del Norte, which are a... And it ended up working. You should've seen the... We had a little text chain with the production team, and they were like, "Oh, my goodness. It
Chanda Smith Baker: worked." I was watching them. I was watching them. And, um, they were coming, and they're like, "You, now."
I mean, it was, it was, it was great. And I got to watch people walk down very proudly onto that stage, including, uh, Katie, who's on my team- Yes ... and Gloria Perez, who was also on- Yes ... um, who's on our board.
Antonio Tijerino: Yes. And the, the Los Tigres Del Norte, a legendary group that was one of the favorites of this area. So we said, "We gotta get them."
They were gonna perform, it was no problem, but then they said, "We wanna present the award. We're gonna have the MC do it." And they said, "No, we want to be the ones to go and present."
Chanda Smith Baker: Oh, wow.
Antonio Tijerino: Now, they're doing the closing song, so they have to strap on accordions and whatever else they had going on.
Chanda Smith Baker: Yeah, they did have an accordion.
Antonio Tijerino: And the production... They had two. And the production team was like was like, "This reminds me of more cowbell." Remember that? I was like, yes. Yeah. More accordion. Yeah. Um, so we had to figure out, like, how are we gonna get them ready for their performance? 'Cause there wasn't a lot of time. Mm-hmm. And they said nope, the entire group wanted to go out there and do it, and they wanted to do it in English so that they wouldn't get subtitled.
And I was like, "Hermanos, you're gonna get subtitled no matter what. Trust me." But they, um, but they ended up, their spirit was that we wanna be able to communicate this community to everyone, and they were in- They were in sync with the community because we, I call them, you know, kind of the band of the, of, of, of the community.
Like, uh, you know, like the Banda del Pueblo. Um, truly they take that very seriously in terms of their
Chanda Smith Baker: actions. It was clear to me and I didn't know.
Antonio Tijerino: Los Tigres?
Chanda Smith Baker: Yeah, I mean, you know, like when you, when you know something is of community, you know it. And as soon as they got announced, I was sharing with you like n- the crowd response.
Yeah. And then it's like first note, everyone's singing. You know, I'm looking around like, "I don't know the words. I need to know these words." So as, even as you're talking, I'm reflecting on just the full circle moment of when they came out and the love community had, to them ending with the love they had for community.
Antonio Tijerino: Oh.
Chanda Smith Baker: Um, I, I wouldn't have been able to express it without you sharing, sharing that.
Antonio Tijerino: I, tho- There was, um, a woman who, who, um, is the head of CLUES, and we had just done something earlier with them, Liliana. And she was standing, 'cause I was in the front row, so she was standing right in front of me, closer than you are to me right now, uh, facing out because- Mm-hmm
as you know, we had like 35 people on the stage, and then we had another 75 come in from the sides and then surround the stage. Again, shout out production team. That was not easy to pull off. And she started crying, uh, uncontrollably weeping, and I started hugging her. And I spent the entire time in this emotional state with somebody that I had seen during the raids, and now I'm seeing i- in, in, in, in a, in a beautiful gown, um, standing alongside of everyone that she had stood alongside holding hands in a very different way- Mm-hmm
uh, protecting the communities. And she just broke down from that moment. And it just meant so much to me because I also saw another gentleman, um, that was with the group El Centro that had a cape that said, "This is for everyone that isn't here." And that made me get emotional. And then the faces when I looked up there that were the faces that were looking at me when we came and met with that delegation, where I remember a woman came up to me who runs a non- works at a nonprofit that was undocumented and her husband had been, um, I'm gonna say kidnapped, but taken away, and when she shook my hand to say hello in this dinner that we hosted the first day, she said, "I'm risking everything to see you."
So there's a heaviness to that- Mm ... a responsibility to make sure that we were gonna honor that commitment she made with a commitment. And when we came into town, we didn't just do the fancy event. We made sure that we did a charla about service and health, and then we made sure that we did a na- Navigating Your Future with Clues for o- over 150 kids to understand what career paths they have.
But I have to share with you a, a couple of anecdotes, if you don't mind. Yeah, go for it. Um, one was driving in. As I was coming in, all of a sudden, I pull up next to somebody that was next to me, and I was in the passenger seat. And I was playing music that I like, and she had her window rolled down, and it was Frankie Beverly and Maze-
which is one of my favorites.
Chanda Smith Baker: Okay.
Antonio Tijerino: And she started singing. She started singing. And she's looking over at me singing like this. Yeah, I love it. And I'm singing back at her. Mm-hmm. Those are those moments when you are in community. Mm-hmm. Um, the other was when, um... just before we're, I'm there to report, you think you had to be there by 7:00.
I really had to be there by 5:00. And I hadn't written my speech yet, uh, and I'm already ADHD, and my staff is running around looking for me. And then I get this text from Congressman Castro that says, "Hey, I'm gonna go check in on, on Liam, um, you know, Conejo, t- to see how he's doing and his family. And would you like to come with me?"
First of all, it shows why he's deserving of getting one of those awards that night, um, uh, for public service, because his public service doesn't stop. He has children. He sees his children in this child, uh, and in these parents s- uh, in... He sees himself. So we went and visited the school, um, and it took a very long time, but the trauma that this young man has felt, that his dad has felt from being taken away like that, the sadistic way that they were treated, it w- this whole notion of it's just your job.
It's not just your job to be sadistic. There's another level to it.
Chanda Smith Baker: Yeah. So Tony, um, I would like to assume that everyone knows who Liam is.
Antonio Tijerino: It was the little boy with the bunny hat, um, and his dad that were taken away, um, and, and sent to detention in, in Dilley, um, uh, Texas. Texas. Mm-hmm. And, uh, Congressman Joaquin Castro made sure that he went to visit them, got them out, and then came with them to deliver them back to their community, uh, here in, in Minnesota.
Um, so that man continues to do that work on behalf of our communities, and we wanted to make sure that we recognized him along with Mon Laferte, along with, uh, Os- Oscar, um, uh, de Leon, um, a- along with Los Tigres Del Norte who were there, um, and the young man, um, o- uh, Eladio Carrión from Puerto Rico, um, and lastly, uh, the, the wonderful, um, singer that we also...
Ximena Sariñana. Um, and so, but he was a big part of that, um, because we're trying to honor leadership, and it's the leadership you're talking about, and it comes in different ways.
Chanda Smith Baker: It comes in different ways, and it often, um-
Antonio Tijerino: Including music ... it
Chanda Smith Baker: doesn't come in agreement.
Antonio Tijerino: No.
Chanda Smith Baker: Right? And so there was a route to the awards that was maybe a bit challenging, right?
You know, in communities sometimes I think people think that because you, um, come from the same place, you have the same approach to how you see things. And, um, what I think is important is that you can have a beautiful moment that emerges from hard conversations, from hard moments, and I watched you have a really leaderful moment on stage that I thought was beautiful.
I actually did, and I've talked- Thank you ... about it with Henry. It was masterful. Um, it was masterful, and I learned from you- Oh, my goodness ... in that moment.
Antonio Tijerino: It was also authentic.
Chanda Smith Baker: I felt it.
Antonio Tijerino: It, it more than masterful, it was authentic because it was an authentic moment where I didn't wanna stop anyone from voicing- Um, their concerns, their, um, their i- the, the issues that they might have.
Everyone should be allowed to, uh, voice how they feel. Um, and they should have the f- they know how they feel and, and we need to respect how someone feels. At the same time, we wouldn't have had the 39th anniversary of the Hispanic Heritage Awards if it wasn't for Target. They didn't just jump on
Chanda Smith Baker: and- They've been engaged with you 15 years.
Antonio Tijerino: Over 15 years. Um, like I said, the, it, they wouldn't, we, we would've been stuck at, like, 28 Yeah ... if it wasn't for them. And so I also wanted to mention that we all have family members that aren't perfect, but they're still our family members. Um, and I feel that way about Target, and we wouldn't have been in Minnesota honoring the people of Minnesota without Target, and some of those folks actually worked at Target, um, that, that were in that, that, that were
Chanda Smith Baker: part of the awards.
Isaac and Kiera, and I, I saw them there, and you called, you called names out, and-
Antonio Tijerino: Yeah ...
Chanda Smith Baker: I think it is important, um- Well,
Antonio Tijerino: they're family ...
Chanda Smith Baker: they're family. They are family, and they are working inside of institutions, as we all often are, um, working to do good on behalf of our community inside of structures that are still learning.
Antonio Tijerino: And we need them in those places.
Chanda Smith Baker: Say more about why.
Antonio Tijerino: Because Isaac is the son of farm workers. Who's gonna have a m- a more visceral connection to the plight of a farm worker than somebody that worked the fields as a little boy? Kiera, Laysha, y- when... It's relationships, as you mentioned. Mm-hmm. We know these folks.
Um, you understand who they are, what their ethos is, and somehow that will have an impact within these companies, especially when they're in a, a, a greater position of leadership. Um, they're going to be able to, uh, to have that, that, be that, that moral, um, compass within the company. Um, and there were companies that we didn't work with that were, um, wanted a, a place in, in, in, amongst our sponsors, um, that we said no to because they weren't there for 15 years.
They were trying to be there in this moment. Um, and there were several. Um, and you have to make those decisions- Yeah ... based on the authenticity, which is a huge word for me because I think that's, that's the biggest attribute in being in any leadership position. Are you authentic? Mm-hmm. Oh, are you a good message deliverer?
Well, you are if you're authentic. Um, are your actions... If they're authentic, they are. Um, so if you show up in an authentic way, um, people will relate to it and understand it, and at least trust in what you're saying.
Chanda Smith Baker: Yeah. It was, it was beautiful, and I think that, um, it was modeling that two things can be true.
And we have gone through a lot in this country. Minnesota has gone through a lot. And I am often at the table where there are people that only wanna be at the table with people they 100% agree with. How do you navigate that? How... What advice do you have for people that are navigating feeling like they're compromising or selling out or not doing what they need to do because they're sitting with someone who they might see as not being down enough?
Antonio Tijerino: So I'm in Washington, DC.
Chanda Smith Baker: Yeah, well, that says it all, period.
Antonio Tijerino: You're, you're faced with this I don't care if you're riding in, in, in, in the subway, uh, you're- somebody's gonna have an opinion. Uh, we all have thresholds, and you need to be able to at least have people express how they feel. Mm-hmm. And what you do with that information is a completely different thing.
I do know that the whole part about what is or isn't down can translate into a lotta different ways. Mm. Where s- you know, and you just have to be respectful of what that criteria is for someone and then how valid is it to you. So I obviously thought that a l- uh, uh, when I hear from somebody that they have a problem, um, w- with who we might partner with, I listen to you, and then I have to decide based on that relationship that you started this whole conversation with how authentic they are in showing up for our community or for our organization, and you make that distinction.
But in other ways, things that you don't compromise are values. So when people try to say, "We don't wanna be political," why are you going to Minnesota and you left the Kennedy Center? No. The, the there are things that are not political. The dehumanizing of someone, that's not a political move.
Chanda Smith Baker: What is it?
Antonio Tijerino: That is a human- th- th- this is a, a reflection of whatever God or creator you believe in that you have to see in everyone around you. You, you just be consistent with your, with your opinions- Yeah ... is all I ask. And when people try to act like you're entering into politics, um, because you're trying to defend a human being, uh, that to me is non-political, and it wouldn't have been for Jesus or Muhammad or whoever you believe in, Abraham or whatever your, your, your prophets are, um, Siddhartha, th- what- whatever it is, they, you, you have to be a reflection and see them in everyone that you deal with.
Um, and that's how I felt when I was doing work on the border, uh, th- 13 years ago with Sister Norma Pimentel. Um, you see when you, uh, like right now, if you're okay with ending TPS and sending 350,000 people back to Haiti, Haiti? That's not political Yeah That is not valuing a human being. And those reasons often are because of the color of someone's skin, uh, because of their, their culture.
Um, they... You, you have to look at someone that says that the Somali community doesn't belong in this country and stick up for people from the Somali community- Mm-hmm ... because they're human beings that have value. Everyone has value. And you're gonna have a lot of problems if you're throwing everybody out of here, um, when you have a population issue that is declining.
Chanda Smith Baker: Yeah.
Antonio Tijerino: When you have a workforce, 78% of all new jobs will be filled by a Latino over the next five years. The diversity program's gonna be the other 22%. It's, it's an American imperative. This isn't just what's good for Latinos or the Black community or females in this country. Yeah. This is what's good for America.
Yeah. You, there's no work around it.
Chanda Smith Baker: Yeah. So Tony, let's talk about what it means to stick up and to be, um, engaged in these issues, particularly when people are afraid. Right? There are, there are things that are at risk for people that are speaking up.
Antonio Tijerino: You know where there's a bigger risk?
Chanda Smith Baker: Tell me.
Antonio Tijerino: For the people that you're supposed to be sticking up for.
Chanda Smith Baker: Mm-hmm.
Antonio Tijerino: Be an actuary if you're scared of risk. Don't be a nonprofit leader because that's a risk worth taking for the people that you are supposed to be serving. Mm-hmm. And if that makes you pull back and be risk averse, you're in the wrong job.
Chanda Smith Baker: Mm-hmm. Well, I don't know if the people that are listening to this podcast could see you lean forward on that question but you leaned forward and, and like obviously that's a, a place of, of something for you because I hear it all the time.
Like I sit at a lot of tables, and the amount of conversations we have about we shouldn't do this because it might cause trouble, it might point an unnecessary finger- Tell John Lewis
Antonio Tijerino: that.
Chanda Smith Baker: Oh.
Antonio Tijerino: That man went to the border with me. That man was more empathetic-
Chanda Smith Baker: Mm ...
Antonio Tijerino: and angry about what was going on, and that was back in 2014 So this is all in the spirit-
Chanda Smith Baker: It is all in
Antonio Tijerino: the spirit
of these folks that we have as role models in terms of what it i- do you think he was patient?
Chanda Smith Baker: John Lewis was not patient.
Antonio Tijerino: Do, do you think he was risk-averse?
Chanda Smith Baker: Yeah
Antonio Tijerino: So if you wanna reflect John Lewis, don't be risk-averse. If you wanna ref- if you wanna reflect Dolores Huerta or any of these other leaders that you have, and including the leaders right now, our youth isn't risk-averse.
You, you have young people right now that are getting down. My son is doing a whole concert series called Hardcore For Humanity, and he's taking stances where I'm even like, "Take a look at the whole thing in order to make that statement." And he said, "I'm just making a statement." And I said, "That's the way you're supposed, you're supposed to do it.
You're supposed to stand up for someone."
Chanda Smith Baker: Yeah. And so what you're saying is now is a time for courage.
Antonio Tijerino: This is a time, it's a very revealing time, as we were saying. You know, I remember Maya Angelou- Mm-hmm ... the quote about, uh, you know, when somebody shows you who they are, believe them.
Chanda Smith Baker: Yeah.
Antonio Tijerino: I'm believing a whole lot of people right now because they are being revealed by themselves.
Chanda Smith Baker: Yeah.
Antonio Tijerino: Um, and so anyone that's wanted to reinvent themselves, in a couple months or in a couple of years-
Chanda Smith Baker: Mm-hmm ...
Antonio Tijerino: right now you're revealing who you are, and you may not be allowed to reinvent yourself because we have to think about who the leaders that we truly have that are embedded in the community, and that's something you have here in Minnesota.
Chanda Smith Baker: Yeah.
Antonio Tijerino: Every leader that I meet with here across all the different communities is embedded in the community. They are fighting on behalf of the community or supporting the communities. I went to the COPAL dinner last night. I- I've never seen people that are more dedicated to the community and protecting, but also lifting the community and figuring out how we get more small businesses going.
Chanda Smith Baker: Mm-hmm. I worked with, uh, Francisco for 17 years.
Antonio Tijerino: That is an embodiment of the activism here in Minnesota. So it's not just about the reaction to the raids. No,
Chanda Smith Baker: of
Antonio Tijerino: course not. It's about how do you move forward? Yes. And for everyone that, n- now, on the... Now I'm kind of in this interesting place where I'm feel a strong connection to people in Minnesota, but I'm going back to Washington, D.C.,
and they're like, "Oh, everything must be better now." And I'm like, "Oh, after an earthquake, a devastating earthquake, everything's fine after the earth stops quaking?" No, that's when you get a chance to try to build everything back up. Mm-hmm. That's when you heal and prepare for the next thing, when the earth stops shaking.
Everything's not better when the earth stops shaking. Those tremors are being felt for generations. That poor kid, Liam Conejo, is gonna feel it for possibly the next generation and how he might be a father to someone.
Chanda Smith Baker: Mm-hmm. Yeah, so now I'm gonna ask for advice for me.
Antonio Tijerino: I should be getting advice from you.
I, I, I did my research.
Chanda Smith Baker: So, um, the, the kids have been sitting very heavy on my spirit. And, um, I've been thinking about the moments in which our kids have lived through in recent years. But particularly this year. And I think about the kids who had to go in hiding from the government, that missed school again, that are being informed on what our democracy looks like in a moment like this.
And I'm trying to think through what is it that we should continually be paying attention to in philanthropy, outside. Because how do these kids grow up? Do they grow up angry? Do they grow up activated? Do they grow up anxious? What is it that we need to support in this moment to allow for the fullness of their dreams and their humanities to be actualized?
And I sit in that a lot, and I'm just-
Antonio Tijerino: Mental health. Mental health is a huge part of this, um, building community among themselves, not just being told.
Chanda Smith Baker: Mm-hmm.
Antonio Tijerino: Um, listening to them, truly listening to youth, and you were talking about your son. It's different parenting than actually, uh, getting guidance from youth.
Um, and I can tell you from the conversations I've had with young people, mental health is the number one issue- Mm ... that they're dealing with. And I have a daughter who spent half of eighth grade in an outpatient program, um, at fif- 14 years old. Now think about what a 14-year-old has lived through, especially here in Minnesota, it's a whole different level.
But these kids have lived through not just the raids, the, the, the terror, um, but add to it that a few years ago they dealt with COVID, the terror of n- not being able to come out of their homes. Right. Sounds familiar, right? You had the racial violence. That's 500 years, but it seemed to have culminated with what happened here- Mm-hmm
with the murder. And then you have a subsequent election swinging everything the completely other way. Um, you have school shootings. So now you're just not worried about somebody else coming at you. You now have school shootings that you have to deal with, or you're crawling under a desk. You have protocols.
Um, you have social media that, like anything, has to be mitigated.
Chanda Smith Baker: Yeah.
Antonio Tijerino: Um, so this is a really heavy time. And then you have your parents, because how they react to things is the mental health part, too. It's not just what's happening within, within the child.
Chanda Smith Baker: Yeah. We used to be able to raise our kids and sort of separate them from the trauma, and now the trauma is everywhere around them.
Antonio Tijerino: Including through us.
Chanda Smith Baker: And through us.
Antonio Tijerino: And that's the difficulty. Yeah. How do you hide the trauma of having your parents taken away, or fearful- Mm-hmm ... of being taken away?
Chanda Smith Baker: Yeah. One of my kids said, "We gotta be careful that we're not trauma transferring."
Antonio Tijerino: Yes.
Chanda Smith Baker: Um- I'm thinking about philanthropy. I'm thinking about my question.
And oftentimes we're, we're talking about achievement gaps and disparities, and we wanna make sure the kids are reading and all. And these are really important things, and I'm not underestimating their importance. But what you're saying undergirds their ability to even access any of those things.
Everything.
Antonio Tijerino: That, that, that's exactly my point. It affects everything. It affects how they interact with each other. It affects their hope. Like, and I, and I said this when I came here and was being interviewed by some of the media when we came here in February, and I said, "You can't allow helplessness to turn into hopelessness."
And that never happened, 'cause these folks that I saw were ne- never helpless or hopeless. Mm-hmm. Um, but it takes a lot to get there, and youth should not feel hopeless, uh, in, in this environment.
Chanda Smith Baker: I had this wonderful opportunity earlier this year to be with a group of Black women that were new in their roles of CEOs in, um, philanthropic organizations, and we brought four women, Black women, that have recently retired.
And we had this conversation around sage wisdom.
Antonio Tijerino: Mm-hmm.
Chanda Smith Baker: And, um, how sometimes we talk about we're standing on the shoulders, and then we have elders, um, in community that we don't lean on, we don't include, we don't engage, we don't invite. Where, where... Do you see the same division? Is that showing up? What, like, where, where, where do we-
Antonio Tijerino: I, you know, I get asked, "What advice do you have for a, somebody from Generation Z, um, or Generation Y?"
And I said, "I don't give advice to young people. I get advice from young people." Mm-hmm. You know, I'd rather invest in a 16-year-old than a 60-year-old. Mm-hmm. Um, it's more of a question that we do our part. We make sure that they have confidence- Mm-hmm ... that we believe in them, we connect them to each other, 'cause social capital's big.
Uh, you're looking at that when you're talking about Black women that are CEOs. You might have known each other. How do we get to that where we have young Black women that get to know each other, um, and can count on each other from all the different areas as they matriculate in their career paths? It's the same thing we're trying to do with young Latino people.
Uh, we wanna make sure that they're building the infrastructure for impact, and we don't have enough people going into the nonprofit space too, is another thing. I'm on the board of the Independent Sector, um, with Akilah Watkins. Shout out to Akilah. Akilah.
Chanda Smith Baker: Come on. Akilah. I love Akilah. That is my girl.
Yeah, Akilah. That is my girl.
Antonio Tijerino: No, we're gonna take a picture and send it to her.
Chanda Smith Baker: We
Antonio Tijerino: are. But, but I talk to her all the time. Mm-hmm. It's like, there's certain career paths that you fall back into. You were a lawyer, and then you went into a nonprofit space. You were a marketing executive, and at some point you went back into this.
We, we need to be able to lunge forward into these spaces. Mm-hmm. Um, and that's what I talked to Akilah about. Where is the, the, the, where is... So this is another area that I think philanthropy needs to look at, because where is the pipeline project? We have plenty of them in math and science and all these other areas- And teaching, yeah
which we need. Where's the one for pub- for, for service- Mm-hmm ... for nonprofit leadership? Um, and that includes on, being on boards and different forms of that. Um, that to me is something else that we need to make sure that the communities that need the most- Resources and, and, and, and guidance are the communities that are reflected in the leadership, and that's not always the case.
Um, look, I can care as much as I can about the plight of a woman. Mm-hmm. I can try to support.
Chanda Smith Baker: Yeah.
Antonio Tijerino: I watched three babies being born. I was there. I was as supportive- Yeah ... as I could have been. But you didn't have those babies. I don't know what it's like to have a baby. No, no, you do not. And so I don't know what it is- Yeah
to be a mom. Yeah. I don't know what it is- Yeah ... to be a woman, no matter- Okay ... how much of an ally I am. I'm a huge ally to the queer community. I don't know what it's like. I don't know what it's like to be trans- Mm-hmm ... and have both sides of the aisle say horrible things about you and not take up for you, including telling people that you don't, you don't belong- Mm-hmm
i- in defending this country or defending me. Mm-hmm. I want anyone that wants to defend me to defend me.
Chanda Smith Baker: Yeah. Um- But we can relate 'cause we've all been, uh, all of our communities have been through that at some k- in some degree Have been through it at one point or another. So we can relate, but we don't know.
Let me ask you this, because you've been in your role for 25 years, right? 25
Antonio Tijerino: years.
Chanda Smith Baker: 25 years.
Antonio Tijerino: Yeah, and every single day, I can't wait to get up and be in my role, because I'm ready to love or fight every single morning when I wake up.
Chanda Smith Baker: Mm.
Antonio Tijerino: I'm ready. My hands are either like this or they're like this.
Chanda Smith Baker: Okay.
Antonio Tijerino: I...
It is something that I carry with me, so when people say, "How much longer can you do this?" As long as I want to wake up and love or fight every single morning- Mm ... and I still have that feeling every day.
Chanda Smith Baker: How have you evolved over those 25 years?
Antonio Tijerino: I haven't evolved one w- one bit. That's the naivete part. I'm the same person, right?
I wake up the same way. Keep going. I am ready to do whatever- Mm-hmm ... needs to be done. I... When people say, "How do you prioritize the needs of your community?"
Chanda Smith Baker: Yeah, please answer that. Who
Antonio Tijerino: am I to prioritize the needs of my community? Mm-hmm. The priority is what my community needs. People try to lead communities.
I get led by my community. And yes, it's maddening, 'cause they're like, "Well, how do you possibly handle that?"
Chanda Smith Baker: And prioritization, I always feel like it's a privilege.
Antonio Tijerino: It is a privilege.
Chanda Smith Baker: It's a privilege.
Antonio Tijerino: It is a privilege. There
Chanda Smith Baker: are a lot of people that don't have room. You gotta do all the things.
Antonio Tijerino: Exactly. Ex- and people...
Yeah, g- it's funny too, because I'll get awards now that are like, "You're so nimble." Well, nimble used to be he's all over the place.
Chanda Smith Baker: Yeah.
Antonio Tijerino: So they're, they just found euphemisms for me- Mm-hmm ... for my style, and now it's been so long that they're like, "Oh-
Chanda Smith Baker: That's just Tony. "...
Antonio Tijerino: this, yeah, this guy's such a risk-taker.
He's amazing." No, I was reckless before. Now I'm a r- now, now I- Yeah ... now I take positive risks.
Chanda Smith Baker: Right. So- The recklessness, um- It's the ex- it's the exact same
Antonio Tijerino: thing ... resulted
Chanda Smith Baker: in, in impact.
Antonio Tijerino: Yes.
Chanda Smith Baker: You, you've demonstrated by just going in and doing what your heart told you that for someone that looked reckless, it was an assignment for you that resulted in impact, and you have the, the, the receipts- That for me should demonstrate to anybody that's feeling concerned about moving forward that even when you don't know, you move anyway.
Antonio Tijerino: And I have to say this too As m- scarce as resources are, as scarce as capital is right now, and not every... And I'm also on the board of Hispanics in Philanthropy, but I have to tell you, the capital is that you have a job or that your team has jobs. Mm. That's your capital that you need to work off of. So be more creative, be more resourceful in making that impact.
We worked with Minecraft and developed the first Latino theme Minecraft game in history that was played by 30 million kids in 30 languages, and had a teacher's guide and a parent's guide. That was purely because we just wanted to do it. Mm. Because it was a way of having an impact that wasn't, that technology allowed us to have a, the biggest impact we ever had without anyone on staff having to go anywhere and support that program.
It was all done through Minecraft and this partnership. Mm. So I tell the same thing to my team, "Come up with ways to have an impact that don't take up a lot of resources." And then when you do get resources, do the same thing we all do, right? What happens when you're running out of shampoo? You pour a little water in there and shake it up.
You
Chanda Smith Baker: shake it up. You gotta make it work.
Antonio Tijerino: Oh, the milk carton. What? There's not much in here- Mm ... but I'm gonna try to eat this cereal. Let me pour a little water in here and shake that up and
Chanda Smith Baker: then I mean, it's the advantage of knowing how to make a dollar out of 15 cents. You just bring it into the workplace.
Antonio Tijerino: That's ex- exactly right. I get- So that's what we need to do as nonprofits, put a little water in y- in, at the bottom of your milk carton- Mm-hmm. Shake
Chanda Smith Baker: it up and make it work ... to try to,
Antonio Tijerino: try to get enough for a bowl of cereal.
Chanda Smith Baker: That's it. So as we wrap, um, I hear that you're working on another important event coming to Minnesota.
What's coming in the spring?
Antonio Tijerino: Okay. So this feels like... I, I've been smitten by Minnesota.
Chanda Smith Baker: I like that.
Antonio Tijerino: I've been inspired. I
Chanda Smith Baker: like that for us.
Antonio Tijerino: Smitten and inspired, and to be honest with you, also feel challenged to what we can do here. And it's funny too, because the other thing is where communities are. So you can look at it two ways.
You can look at it as the density areas, LA, Miami, New York, um, all these different cities, Houston, and then you can also look at it, and Chicago, uh, but where are the areas that are burgeoning? They actually need... You shouldn't do one in lieu of the other. Mm. But I went to Buffalo, there were 2,000 Latinos in this room where I was speaking to them.
I've been to Wilmington, Nashville, uh, here in Minneapolis, and, and the, all over the Twin Cities and outside. There is an energy here that you're able to watch people build coalitions faster than you possibly could in a, in, in a hugely densely populated area. The politics are tighter. The impact is faster.
Um, we can't forget that where people are recent- arrivals, like Atlanta's a top 10 market now for Latinos. Mm. Um, those are areas that need a lot of resources, and a lot of resources fast, because they haven't had three or four generations to build that infrastructure, and that's what's I see happening here.
There's real infrastructure being built thanks to you, and thanks to s- the philanthropic organizations that are here, and the corporate partners that are here, but also thanks to the people that are pouring water into those milk jugs- That's right ... and making it, making it happen. So that being said, we wanna be able to take our programs here every chance we get.
So we did the big Hispanic Heritage Awards. There's a version of that called the Youth Awards- Mm ... where we get 35,000 applicants from every state in the United States, as well as Puerto Rico, Washington, D.C., and other territories, and those, uh, uh, kids apply... or high school students apply in various categories that we feel are tent poles for our community, you know, engineering and science and education and entrepreneurship, and all these other areas that we have, public service and, and entertainment.
Like, it's crazy. So we build this program 27 years ago that, that we had now have 350,000 in our cr- in our, in our, in our, um, network that can tap into each other. But every year the feeder are the Youth Awards. We narrow 'em down to about 300 regional awardees, give them grants to start their own nonprofits or to do their clinical trials, or to have patents on their products, or to buy a cello if they're gonna be music majors.
Mm-hmm. Whatever it is, it's a very flexible grant, and then we narrow it down to about 10 national awardees that represent each one of the categories, and we do the National Youth Awards. And we also do a celebrity that would, that in the public eye also serves to inspire. I want to bring them here to then turn around and be able to tap into not just our wonderful community that we've been able to, um, um, be embraced by here, uh, but also with youth.
I wanna make sure that kids in middle school and high school, and kids like Liam Conejo and others are able to come here and draw that inspiration, uh, that I get from working with youth all the time. Um, and so we wanna bring that here.
Chanda Smith Baker: I love that.
Antonio Tijerino: In the spring.
Chanda Smith Baker: And I think it's important that, um, as you're thinking about momentum, because I feel it.
It
Antonio Tijerino: is momentum. Yeah, yeah.
Chanda Smith Baker: I feel it. It feels- It feels like we can literally take what was a moment that was terrible, and you said from it there was triumph. You started- Yeah ... you said that at some point.
Antonio Tijerino: Yeah.
Chanda Smith Baker: And- We
Antonio Tijerino: recognized the triumph on that stage.
Chanda Smith Baker: We did. Yeah, we were there. And you must have recognized it before you got to that stage.
Antonio Tijerino: That's why we brought it here.
Chanda Smith Baker: Right,
Antonio Tijerino: and- I wanted to tell that story- Right ... of triumph over tragedy.
Chanda Smith Baker: Right, and so the invitation is for the everyday person to see where the triumphs are.
Antonio Tijerino: That's right.
Chanda Smith Baker: Yeah.
Antonio Tijerino: We all have it in us.
Chanda Smith Baker: Mm-hmm.
Antonio Tijerino: We all have a triumph inside of us.
Chanda Smith Baker: Right on.
Antonio Tijerino: Yeah.
Chanda Smith Baker: Thank you.
Antonio Tijerino: Thank you.
Chanda Smith Baker: Thank you for listening to Conversations with Chanda, hosted by me, Chanda Smith Baker, President and CEO of the Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation. To hear more conversations with change makers, visit conversationswithchanda.com, conversations with C-H-A-N-D-A .com, or find us on YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts.
If you'd like to learn more about the work at the foundation, please visit spmcf.org.