How To Make Your Voice Heard In Government | Jennice Fuentes - BoricuActivatEd

Send us Fan MailWhat if you could take 25 years of experience navigating the halls of Congress - and turn that knowledge into a toolkit that anyone could use?My guest today spent decades on the inside of government, including serving as Chief of Staff to Congressman Luis Gutiérrez.But after Hurricane Maria, she came to a very different realization: maybe ordinary citizens don't need to have access to power - they need to understand how to use the power they already have.So can civic power actually be taught?That's what we're going to explore today with Jennice Fuentes.Jennice Fuentes is the founder and CEO of BoricuActivatEd ( https://boricuactivated.org/ ), a nonprofit focused on teaching people the fundamentals of civic engagement, advocacy, storytelling and community change. She is also the founder and managing partner of Fuentes Strategies ( https://fuentesstrategies.com/ ), a government-relations firm focused on strategic guidance and access involving Congress, federal agencies and Puerto Rico.Before founding these organizations, Jennice spent 25 years working in the U.S. House of Representatives, including more than 20 years as Chief of Staff to Congressman Luis Gutiérrez, where she served as a principal advisor, strategist and manager - helping move legislative initiatives from concept to law. She began her congressional career working in the Office of Puerto Rico's Resident Commissioner.But the experience that ultimately changed the direction of her career came in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria in 2017.As Puerto Rico struggled through the disaster, Jennice saw something beyond the devastating infrastructure crisis: a profound gap in people's ability to navigate government, communicate their needs and advocate effectively for their communities.And that led to a fascinating question:What if ordinary citizens didn't need a congressional insider to make their voices heard?That question became BoricuActivatEd - an organization whose philosophy is essentially: Educate. Activate. Empower. Advocate.Today, Jennice is working to give communities something that can be just as important as money or infrastructure - the knowledge and confidence to understand how government works and participate effectively in it.#JenniceFuentes #BoricuActivatEd #CivicEngagement #CivicPower #Democracy #PublicPolicy #Government #Congress #Advocacy #CommunityEngagement #PuertoRico #HurricaneMaria #CivicEducation #Leadership #PublicService #PoliticalScience #SocialImpact #CitizenEngagement #Storytelling #ProgressPotentialAndPossibilitiesSupport the show