Watch Highlight Reel of Community Academy

Congratulations to the 34 participants who graduated from the LEAD Goleta Bilingual Community Academy on February 20, 2025. This is the largest class to graduate in the program’s 5-year history and the third bilingual class with Spanish interpretation and translated materials. Former LEAD Goleta graduates, family and friends of the current class, City staff and the entire Goleta City Council gathered at the Goleta Community Center to applaud the group as each walked across the stage and received a Certificate of Completion and a City of Goleta pin. An ice cream social and sparkling apple cider toast followed the ceremony. Watch a video recap of the program here.

Mayor Perotte who had the honor of pinning each of the graduates said, “This is one of my favorite evenings. I really love coming here and seeing and thanking all of you. I hope you will take what you learned and tell your family and friends, but mostly, I hope you had a good time and know that we [Goleta City Council] are accessible. It’s really important to us that we hear from you.”

LEAD, which stands for Learn, Empower, Advocate and Discuss, is an award-winning bilingual six-week class that gives participants an up-close look at local government and in particular how the City of Goleta operates. This year, due to the rainstorm on February 13, 2025, the class ended up being five weeks long with a combined final class which took place prior to the graduation. The enthusiastic and attentive group from all walks of life received a lot of information during the course of the Academy but all expressed on the final day that they were glad they took the initiative and signed up for the eye-opening experience.

Terrie Bovaird said, “My sincere thanks to the organizers and presenters at the 2025 Goleta LEAD Academy. I truly appreciated the opportunity to learn through this valuable and educational program. I will use what I learned and the reference materials provided for many years to come.”

David Rachford said, “LEAD Goleta is a great program to introduce you to civic leadership in Goleta the Goodland. It was an opportunity to learn about City programs, issues and challenges, and celebrate the successes with the amazing team that makes things happen. I now feel more connected to our community, and I’ve lived here for 26 years.”

In addition to staff presentations from various departments, participants also toured the Goleta Valley Library, watched a Sheriff’s K-9 presentation, received a tutorial on how to pack a Go Bag in case of an emergency, and also participated in a Mock City Council Meeting. 

Community Relations Manager Kelly Hoover said, “We will never forget this dynamic class. They were hungry for information, asked great questions throughout and no matter the complexity of the subject matter, they were on the edge of their seats, engaged the entire time. It is impressive that each of them made sacrifices in their personal lives to attend this class week after week. It says a lot about each and every one of them as people. We hope they will stay connected with the City and each other as a result of this bonding experience. Hats off to my Community Relations colleagues Jaime Shaw and Marcos Martinez who went over and beyond to make this an exceptional learning experience for everyone involved.”

We also want to express our heartfelt appreciation to our Spanish interpreters Viviana Marsano, Hugo Santos, and Regina Santos.

If you are interested in signing up for a future LEAD Goleta class, please email jshaw@cityofgoleta.org to be notified when applications are available.

Photos from the LEAD Goleta Bilingual Community Academy

LEAD Goleta graduates with City Council

Mock City Council meeting participants with City Clerk staff

Goleta Police & K-9 (pictured left-to-right: K-9 Team Deputy James Carovano and Obi, Community Resource Deputy Connor Worden and Sgt. Noel Rivas)

Spanish Interpreters (pictured left-to-right: Hugo Santos, Viviana Marsano, and Regina Santos)

City Manager and Assistant City Manager Presenting

Pictured above: LEAD graduates with their certificates: Boris Grodzovsky (top left), Luz Murillo-Reyes (top right), Caroline Rind (bottom right) and Hansen Huang (bottom left)