Leo Cardenas
Former CRS Mediator, Denver Office
Clearly, we had to work the ethnicity out of it first, then the stature of the organization, how long they'd been in existence, because they were non-profit and volunteer groups. We were also interested in the type of leadership that they brought to the table.
Q: You just said something very interesting, "You had to work the ethnicity out of it." How do you do that?
A: Very carefully. First of all, by trying to bring equity to the table in terms of numbers -- numbers of the organizations. And one of the things that happened here and it happened in other cities, is bringing back to the table individuals who did not currently have a title with the organization, but had held a title before and were highly respected. We asked them to come to the table and be sort of senior, elder spokespeople and bring unity, and that worked very well.
Q: Did you try to get equal numbers of each race, or did you try to do something proportionately?
A: I think proportionate to the organizations who actually signed to be members of the coalition.
Q: And this was open to anybody who wanted to be included?
A: Correct.
