PBHA's Robert Coles "Call of Service" Lecture

Doors will open at 5:30pm

"Never do for others what they can do for themselves."

We are pleased to invite you to our 6th annual Robert Coles "Call of Service" Lecture and Award in honor of Ernesto Cortés Jr. for his lifelong dedication to the pursuit of social justice and the empowerment of marginalized communities throughout the world.

Cortés holds a deep respect for the dignity of the people he seeks to help, and he adheres to what he calls the “iron rule” of community activism: Never do for others what they can do for themselves. Rather than seek to impose an outsider’s view of what a community needs, he helps people organize and develop the tools they need to exercise power on their own behalf. Among his many life successes, Cortes’ has built power among farm workers, created employment training and development opportunities, advocated for adequate water and sewer infrastructures in rural communities, and mobilized support and resources for public school reform.

Mr. Cortés is the executive director of the Interfaith Education Fund and the national co-director of the Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF). The Southwest Region of IAF, co-founded by Cortés, comprises more than 24 community-based organizations and stretches from New Orleans to Des Moines to Los Angeles. IAF provides leadership development for poor and moderate income people so that they can identify and take action on issues of importance in their own communities.

Cortés has received several fellowships and awards in recognition of his accomplishments in the field of community organizing, among them the prestigious MacArthur Foundation Genius Grant,

Ernesto Cortés has successfully translated his passion for justice into helping the politically disenfranchised discover their political strength. That passion burns as brightly today as it did in his student activist days at the YMCA.

We hope you will join us for what will prove to be an inspiring event!