Page 3 - 2023-24_mid_year_report_AFIRE_V2 Marilou Mariko Carrera

A Message from Executive Director

Ryan Viloria

Friends,

We are over half way through the AFIRE fiscal year (July 1–June 30),
and we’ve seen so much development and growth both within our
organization and our community as a whole. We’ve been able to resume
in-person programming for much of our work, including the Tess Brion
Pro-Bono Legal Clinic, Tagalog 101 classes, social outings, and more.
We recently launched the GoldenAgers program to engage the elders
of our community through performance.

AFIRE's capacity and capability to continue building in coalition has
grown. Our relationships with our coalition partners have deepened and
strengthened in ways that give more meaning and intention to the work.
With the support of our growing team, we've been able to identify specific
coalition needs and deliverables, and recognize that work might require
different strategies for each coalition. In our coalition work, we've noticed that
the strength of the relationships we cultivate with AFIRE members, volunteers,
and others directly impacts our capacity to mobilize and respond to actions.
This, in turn, allows us to showcase the true power of the people.

We will continue to explore ways to build deep and meaningful relationships with
members, volunteers, and others in our network so that they feel equipped to take
action in times of urgency. We will also strengthen communication between AFIRE
and different coalitions in terms of roles and expectations to better stand in coalition
unity. We will explore more ways to lean on our coalition partners to further build out
a leadership development pipeline for AFIRE members, and activate more of our
community in political mobilization and advocacy efforts.

With so much happening, we are grateful to have you on this exciting journey with us.
Thank you for being a part of our growing community.

Sincerely,

Ryan Viloria,
Executive Director