Rest is Power: Silvia Paz to Take Planned Sabbatical, July-October

This summer, Alianza Coachella Valley’s Founder & Executive Director, Silvia Paz, will take a well-earned and intentional pause. After twelve years of grassroots leadership — from implementing the Building Healthy Communities initiative in the Eastern Coachella Valley to forming what is now Alianza — Silvia Paz has been awarded the Rest is Power grant from the Latino Community Foundation.

Thanks to this unique opportunity, Silvia will take a planned sabbatical from July through October. The time away is not only a chance to rest and reflect but also a powerful investment in the long-term sustainability of the organization and its people.

“Taking this sabbatical is possible because of the strength of the team we’ve built,” said Paz. “It’s a chance for me to step back and for our leadership team to step forward.”

While Silvia is away, Alianza’s day-to-day operations will be led by the organization’s capable and passionate leadership team: Patricia Carrillo, Braxton Kellogg, and Brenda Quintero. Together, they will continue advancing Alianza’s work with the same vision, integrity, and commitment to community power.

About the Rest is Power Grant
The Rest is Power program, part of the Latino Community Foundation’s Latino Power Fund, is rooted in a radical yet necessary idea: that rest is both a right and a strategy for building lasting movements. The program provides leaders with resources to take intentional time off while helping organizations strengthen their internal structures to make rest not only possible, but regenerative.

“We believe that a rested collective is more creative, more powerful, and more prepared to lead from a place of strength,” the Foundation shares. “It’s time to shift our movements from surviving to thriving.”

Alianza is proud to be part of this shift — building a culture of sustainability, healing, and shared leadership for the long haul.