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Laura Padilla is taking her community work to the next level.
The longtime neighborhood nonprofit professional is now the Excelsior Action Group’s new executive director as of June 17.
Padilla, who’s from the Central Valley, moved to San Francisco 16 years ago and immediately got involved in community affairs, a habit she first developed at age 12 when she and her mom organized neighbors to advocate for a cluster mailbox.
“I think that just comes with my values,” Padilla said. “When I root somewhere, I want to make sure that I'm nourishing everything around me.”
Before taking charge of the Excelsior’s community benefit district, Padilla was the director of community programs for the Mission YMCA. Over the last 10 years, she’s worked alongside community leaders, such as Al and Mary Harris, to name a couple, on a community-led Covid-19 response program. She has also been a strong voice on projects in District 11, such as the Brotherwood Way Project and various citywide budget cuts. She also serves on Sisterhood Garden’s steering committee.
Padilla said she is embracing every aspect of being an executive director and can’t wait to develop relationships with the community and work alongside youth, such as the three Mayor’s Youth Employment and Education program interns.
“I'm honored to have this role and that I can't do it without the community leaders that I've been working with for many, many years, and getting the projects that we have gotten done for this community that came all through partnership,” Padilla said. “It's not for me. It's not for the adults. It's really about the young people and trying to create a space where they want to continue to be in 10 years from now, 15 years from now, and they can afford to be.”
The Ingleside Light caught up with Padilla to learn more about her vision for the Excelsior.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
How do you feel about being Excelsior Action Group’s new executive director?
I am really excited. I live and work in this community, in District 11. I live, work and play here, and so that just brings the extra passion to make sure that we do this right and we do this for the people that currently live, work and play here. I'm excited about the work. It's a lot of work because everybody has their vision and wishes for what the Excelsior could be, and we all have a lot of commonalities in our visions of what this corridor could be. It's just finding people that have the same vision and bringing them together and being like, Let's build this together and advocate together.
What do you envision for the Excelsior, and what do you plan to tackle first?
Gathering spaces. We've been trying to activate a night market, but what are the other spaces along our corridor that we could activate as good gathering spaces? Excelsior Coffee has been doing a good job of creating a gathering space for some events and thematic coffee days. Persia Triangle is always like this big wish list, so that's not going away. Let's continue to let you share with the community that we want to figure out how to make that space happen, and there are these little things that you know, like art projects that have happened near the library. Our benches get taken care of. There are a few benches that have come out in the corridor for our seniors. We have lots of seniors in our community. Just on my walk, I saw so many seniors who just walk in the corridor. It makes me so happy that they can walk and not have to step over trash, and that it's clear for the necessities that they need.
It's really defining what our gathering spaces could be. There's some potential. We've had some good closures over the year, with EAG, like the closing of Onondaga Avenue. We did that a few times, and again, all with time and money, but I'm hoping to bring some of those things back to life or figure out new things with some investment by not just me but by the community. This is our community. How can our neighbors help us bring these ideas and vision to life?
What has been your greatest accomplishment in the Ocean View-Merced Heights-Ingleside and Excelsior?
Sisterhood Gardens is a big win for our community in the OMI and Lakeview. My little walk there is Blue House Cafe, to the library, to the garden. I wanted to be better about sharing that little track, like get a coffee, stop by, pick up a book, or just spend some quiet time in your little library, and then walk to the garden. That is one big project that I'm super proud of, the garden, and with my committee there, making sure that that continues to be supported. That it continues to bloom.
Here in the Excelsior, I would say it's the Covid response. That included testing, vaccination and food distribution to the community, which then set the foundation for our Casa de Apoyo Resource Center. All those three things kind of led to this staple that now lives in our community. It isn't going anywhere. It's a resource, and it's been providing food for our community on a weekly basis. Didn't do any of that alone, but those are two big things that I'm super proud of. Now I'm excited there are other projects to life.
Why should people get involved in their communities, and where should they start?
Oh, my gosh, why not? Part of the learning from the Covid-19 pandemic response was that the folks that we were able to help were referrals, so when we know what the needs of the block alone are, then we’re able to just address those needs the best we can with the right resources. That’s why we need to get involved to really figure out what needs nourishing around us.
For EAG, right now, there are Saturday cleanups in front of the Recovery Room. Super helpful. I'd love for folks to get involved on Sunday to do cleanups. These events aren't produced by EAG alone, so it does take getting the word out because it's part of the event. People can help by just sharing with their neighbors, with their school groups, that these events are free and there's something for every age group, and they're on the corridor, so they're all accessible.
