On a Friday afternoon in March, Gabriela "Gabby" Chavez-Lopez headed to the Santa Cruz mountains to revisit her past.

The first paid executive director of the Latina Coalition of Silicon Valley (LCSV), Chavez-Lopez was on her way to visit ELLA, a youth leadership program. The acronym, which translates from Spanish to English as "she"or "her," stands for Engaged Latina Leadership Activation. It's one of many LCSV programs aimed at providing Latinas with civic engagement and leadership development.

Chavez-Lopez herself attended the program about 15 years ago.

"It was such a transformative program for me," she said. "The anticipation that these young women are going to experience that same thing is so exciting, and it's a nice place and time for me to reflect on how the journey has been."

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