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Tristan Reader, Tohono O'odham Community Action (TOCA) Co-Director
Soon, Tristan's office will undergo a $20,000 transformation to a more efficient workspace allowing him to do an even better job. We'll unveil the newly renovated office in the fall. In the meantime, please join us in congratulating Tristan!
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Good Business
After 14 years of working to create empowerment and self-sufficiency for Tohono O'odham Community Action (TOCA), Tristan Reader is most proud of helping create the "TOCA Generation" that has begun to emerge as inspirational community leaders. With nearly 53% of all Tohono O'odham under age 25, Reader knows that the leadership of young people is essential--not only to the future of the community, but to efforts to create hope and wellness today. More than a decade ago, a ten-year-old girl at TOCA's first community garden said, "One day, I will run TOCA." Today, she serves on TOCA's permanent staff as our Youth Coordinator. Tomorrow? She or one of her generation will indeed run TOCA. Delivery a strong organization to this new generation of community leaders has been Reader's greatest honor. Reader's good business tactics are based on a clear, communicated, shared vision for the organization.
Leadership
Tristan Reader believes that leadership is not a role, but a relationship. He guides the organization from the angle of consensus-building. Decisons get made in a context of respect of the staff, board members, volunteers and the community served. Reader recognizes that people bring their talents to the table if they know they will be valued. Under this leadership of integrating recruitment and professional development goals with youth mentorship priorities, TOCA has been able to establish one full-time and three part-time positions for youth agesn 14-25. The energy generated from the approach is palpable across the organization.
Mission
Tohono O'odham Community Action (TOCA) is dedicated to creating a healthy, sustainable and culturally-vital Tohono O'odham community. Drawing upon the O'odham Himdag--the Desert People's Lifeways--TOCA works to address key challenges such as utiliziing traditional foods to combat the tribe's high rates of Type 2 Diabetes. TOCA focuses on "doing with," empowering community members to make positive changes, rather than "doing for," by continuing dynamics of dependency. TOCA's Guiding Principles reflect a philosophy of community action, rather than social service.
- O'ODHAM HIMDAG: Wisdom fro our past creating solutions for our future
- COMMUNITY ASSETS: See our resources, not just our needs
- ENCOURAGE COMMUNITY SELF-SUFFICIENCY
- CONTEST IS CRUCIAL: Strengthening the material roots of O'odham culture
Read about the 10 finalists for 2010.
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