The California School-Age Consortium is proud to highlight Adilene Delgadillo from CalSAC's Leadership Development Institute 360°/365 fellowship. Adilene is a leader who has demonstrated unrivaled commitment to the field and drive for advanced leadership in the out-of-school time and early learning field.
Adilene Delgadillo, California Teaching Fellows Foundation - Fresno
Adilene Delgadillo never imagined working in the educational field as a potential career. Ten years later, she has worked her way from impacting one school site to impacting whole communities. Adilene had been involved with the afterschool world since 2007. She started her early years as a PE instructor, then ASP tutor, and then summer instructor with the City of Santa Maria Afterschool Education and Safety program.
In these roles, Adilene saw her ability to take initiative and lead program activities with little to no direction, opening the opportunity to run her own program. Adilene saw the value of afterschool and the impact it had on the children and their families from working directly with the students and making meaningful connections by working directly with parents and staff. Since then Adilene has been hooked on the afterschool world.
After moving to Fresno and graduating from Fresno State with a BA in Sociology, Adilene became a part of California Teaching Fellows Foundation (CTFF) in 2012. She started in Madera, where she immediately connected with the students and families, which became a home away from home. She had the opportunity to start and run Millview Elementary’s afterschool program for 3 years. While in Madera as a Program Lead, Adilene continued to see the impact that a quality afterschool program can do for youth back home.
Adilene’s fondest memories as Lead was the privilege to serve and train her program’s parents on the various parenting styles and the future opportunities that their children possess. Through various trainings and workshops Adilene gained the ability to help families restructure their parenting style, and invest and focus in the future of their children. Using herself as an example, she was allowed to use her own personal growing experience along with the struggles she faced growing up within her family. She is a firm believer that a strong foundation starts in the home of the child. Parents got to see the opportunities their children have, no matter the path of life they are coming from.
As of October 2015, Adilene has been a Site Liaison for CTFF, overseeing 14 after school programs in the Fresno Unified area. She is determined to make sure all students and families have the same access and equity for success, no matter who they are or where they come from.
“The ultimate reward is not the amount of lives I impact in my lifetime but rather how I impact those lives to continue to stand up for what’s right, that’s priceless.”