Training

Our innovative training programs are designed to give promotoras the information, skills, and understanding they need to communicate with and advocate for their communities.

  • Advocacy and Leadership Training for Promotores
    This 50-hour policy and advocacy program trains promotores as advocates to address inequalities in institutional policies and enhance local capacity to engage residents in a culturally respectful process to generate sustainable social and environmental changes.
  • Latina Saludable es Familia Saludable (Latina Health Is Family Health)
    Visión y Compromiso has trained hundreds of community residents as promotores with this 40-hour core competency curriculum. The curriculum contains sessions that focus on increasing communication skills, adult learning and skills development for the community in general. The methodology used to conduct the sessions is based on the popular adult education that emphasizes the interaction and the inclusion of the participants. The training provides a space where community promotores share their experiences and increase skills and knowledge through information and activities supporting them in their work with the community.
  • Emotional Wellness
    In partnership with The Center for Multicultural Development at the California Institute for Mental Health, Visión y Compromiso developed this 4-day, 32 hour mental health training based on Salud Para Todos to provide promotoras with information about common mental health concerns and to increase their capacity to assist community members in need of mental health prevention, and treatment and recovery services.
  • Bailoterapia (Dance therapy)
    Developed by Visión y Compromiso, Círculos de Bailoterápia (dance therapy circles) provides promotoras—natural leaders in their communities—with training and support to implement culturally and linguistically relevant wellness programs in their communities that are community-based and respond to the health needs and interests of neighborhood residents.  This two-day, 12-hour training provides promotoras with the information and skills they need to 1) help community members incorporate moderate movement into their everyday lives, and 2) develop social networks that offer critical peer support to sustain these physical activity levels and lifestyle changes into the future.  Delivered by Visión y Compromiso’s expert trainers, curriculum modules include: 1) The role of nutrition and food in exercise; 2) Living with diabetes and other chronic diseases; 3) Strategies for healthy eating; 4) Understanding aerobic exercise and intensity levels; 6) How to develop the right physical activity program for the community; 7) Warning signs, contraindications and alternatives; and 8) Instructor’s roles and responsibilities.
  • Salsa, Sabor y Salud
    Originally developed by the National Latino Children’s Institute (NLCI), Visión y Compromiso uses culturally and linguistically relevant tools to help Latino families with children understand the role of diet, nutrition, portion control, and physical activity on family health. Interactive teaching strategies help families define health, nutrition, and physical activity in meaningful ways.
  • Your Heart, Your Health
    The Your Heart, Your Life Project is an evidence based health promotion program designed for adult Latinos by the National Heart, Lung, Blood Institute. Cardiovascular illnesses are the primary cause of death among North Americans, including Latinos. One in every four Latinos dies due to a heart illness.  It is possible to prevent these illnesses with information, realistic behavior changes and regular medical exams. As a result, Vision y Compromiso provides training for community leaders who will in turn bring awareness about this issue to other community residents.
    The program is an 11-session series. Topics include:

    • Risks for heart disease
    • Heart attack signs
    • Physical activity
    • Blood Pressure
    • Cholesterol
    • Healthy Weight
    • Diabetes
    • Caring for our heart
    • When time or money is tight
    • Living Smoke Free
    • Review and graduation
  • Reproductive Justice in the Latino Community
    This 4-session curriculum (each session is 2 hours and can stand alone or be presented as a series) provides tools, resources and materials to transform how promotoras think about race, rights, gender, sexuality and reproduction.
  • safeTALK—Suicide Prevention
    Developed by LivingWorks, safeTALK is a half-day alertness training that prepares anyone over the age of 15, regardless of prior experience or training, to become a suicide-alert helper. Most people with thoughts of suicide don’t truly want to die, but are struggling with the pain in their lives. Through their words and actions, they invite help to stay alive. safeTALK-trained helpers can recognize these invitations and take action by connecting them with life-saving intervention resources, such as caregivers trained in ASIST. Since its development in 2006, safeTALK has been used in over 20 countries around the world, and more than 200 selectable video vignettes have been produced to tailor the program’s audio-visual component for diverse audiences. safeTALK-trained helpers are an important part of suicide-safer communities, working alongside intervention resources to identify and avert suicide risks.
    Training features:

    • Presentations and guidance from a LivingWorks registered trainer—Vision y Compromiso has a trainer!
    • Access to support from a local community resource person
    • Powerful audiovisual learning aids
    • The simple yet effective TALK steps: Tell, Ask, Listen, and KeepSafe
    • Hands-on skills practice and development

Training department leadership:

Alma Esquivel, Director of Training and Education

Gerry Balcazar, Senior Manager, Learning and Social Enterprise