CENTRO BINACIONAL PARA EL DESARROLLO INDIGENA OAXAQUENO
Building Indigenous Power in California
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
It is important to highlight that throughout the two decades that CBDIO has worked for and with the indigenous communities, we have been able to identify the most pressing problems and needs that affect our communities. For example, the changes in life style and the fact that we need to navigate a health system that is so foreign to us, has endangered the individual and community health of indigenous migrants. Not being able to speak English and in many cases not even Spanish, the limited knowledge of the U.S. laws, the lost of our native languages, the discrimination and pressure to assimilate, are some of the many problems that CBDIO has identified.
To cope with these problems, CBDIO leaders selected the aforementioned strategic areas that directly address and put into practice the organization's mission. Furthermore, such areas are directly related to CBDIO's vision, since they aim to promote the wellbeing and self-determination of the indigenous communities.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Indigenous Languages Interpreting Service
Indigenous Interpreters: A Necessary Bridge Between Cultures
It is not enough to speak two or more languages to be an interpreter. Neither is sufficient to have received a formal training from an educational institution. Language interpretation entails a great responsibility, which also requires knowing how the justice system of the United States works (courts, judges and enforcement agencies) as well as the system of private and public institutions such as hospitals, schools and other social service providers. Moreover, it is a vital requirement to master a wide vocabulary and concepts used in the languages interpreted.
According to Leoncio Vásquez, whom since 1999 has taken trainings as an interpreter of the Mixtec language into English and Spanish, interpretation is a complex work, especially when it is about interpreting in a court case, "even more if it is about a serious case in which every word has to be interpreted correctly because the freedom of the defendant is at stake or he or she is at risk of being detained and there are fines that could be imposed”.
As a matter of fact, the lack of a professional interpreter who knows very well the cultures in which a case is developed has negatively affected many indigenous people who have been condemned due to a lack of understanding and effective communication between the parties involved and the justice system.
Due to the problematic situation derived from the language barrier that thousands of indigenous migrants face in the United States, the Binational Center for the Development of Oaxacan Indigenous Communities (CBDIO), implemented the Indigenous Interpreter Project in 1996 to facilitate the training of the indigenous people who have the skills and characteristics to work as interpreters.
CBDIO’s initiative was based on the Title VI of the Act of Civil Rights of 1964, released by president Lyndon B. Johnson about the right of every person to have an interpreter in the courts.
In January 1996, CBDIO organized in San Juan Bautista, California, an intensive training with the participation of 12 indigenous interpreters. This training session was conducted by professional interpreters from the International Language Institute of Monterrey and it was focused on interpreting techniques, legal terms and professional ethics. This training was held again in 1997 with indigenous interpreters from Guatemala, whom started an organization called Mayavisión.
CBDIO kept promoting these trainings and in 1999, it sponsored a session with the participation of indigenous people who speak Chatino, Zapoteco, Triqui, Lower Mixtec and High Mixtec.
During the months of January and March of 2006, 12 indigenous women speaking Mixtec, Zapotec, Triqui and Chatino, besides Spanish and in some cases English, were trained through intensive sessions of 80 hours, to become professional interpreters. These trainings focused on health issues given the growing demand of medical services among the indigenous people and they gave emphasis to the anatomy of the human body, medical terminology, and confidentiality aspects among other things.
These trainings were organized by CBDIO in collaboration with Healthy House of Merced.
Eugenia Pérez, one of the trainees highlighted the great responsibility of the interpreters when they assist other indigenous people in clinics or hospitals since 85% of the diagnostic that doctors make is based on the symptoms that the patient informs them. The communication between the physician and the patient depends on the interpreters.
"A good interpreter has to go through a training to have the capability of interpreting without omitting anything at all of what is being said in that room. Whether it be at a hospital, at a social services office or any other place delivering a service”, she added.
CBDIO efforts to promote the professionalism of indigenous interpreters as well as the interpreters’ hard work have resulted in better trained indigenous interpreters. These interpreters have been able to do their job at hospitals and clinics, immigration offices and other service providers offices in California, Oregon, Washington, Arizona, Florida and New York.
Despite the fact that indigenous migration to the United States has almost been seven decades, many institutions in this country ignore that the indigenous people of Mexico and other parts of Latin America are very diverse and that we have our own languages, which are very different from Spanish. This is the reason why we consider important to share this information and at the same time we are offering the interpreting services of indigenous people who have been professionally trained by CBDIO.
In Mexico there are 62 indigenous languages. In Oaxaca 16 diverse native languages are spoken. Many of these tongues have two or more variants or dialects, for instance Zapotec of the Isthmus, Zapotec from the Highlands and Zapotec of the Valley, or Mixtec form the Highlands, Mixtec from the Lowlands
Guelaguetza California Festival
For the past 19 years, we have organized this unique indigenous culture celebration were the community participates to learn about the culture, arts and culinary expression of the indigenous communities. The event combined with folkloric dances and live band music, exhibition of arts and crafts and the typical food from Oaxaca takes place each September of the year. In order to make the event possible, we work collaboratively with members of our community in monthly meetings, eight months before, to plan the logistics and all the details for the event. Through the year, we seek the collaboration of local businesses, agencies, and foundations to support with sponsorship and attend the event to distribute their information.
Medi-Cal Program Enrollment Assistance
In collaboration with the Madera County Public Health Department, we are outreaching and enrolling families to the Medi-Cal Program, Covered California and Kaiser Kids Program. In this effort, we collaborate with other entities in the City of Madera to support with referral and support not only in the enrollment process, but also in utilization of the health services and retention of their health coverage.
Central Valley Immigrant Integration Collaborative
Another collaborative effort that started by Radio Bilingue in 2013. We are part of the steering committee and our scope of work is to provide support and create opportunities for the integration of new immigrants to the U.S. society. Currently, we are working to organize in March 27 a regional conference to continue discussion around the implementation of the executive actions taken by President Obama and how to include decision makers and people who are able to continue in the effort. In addition, we are providing information to the community about the process of obtaining a drivers license in California. Other members of the steering committee are: United Farm Workers Foundation, Communities for a New California, Central California Legal Services, Education and Leadership Foundation, Radio Bilingüe, Immigrant Legal Resource Center, California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation, Fresno Economic Opportunity Commission, Attorney Lazaro Salazar and Juan Arambula, former state assembly member and Jorge Aguilar from the Fresno Unified School District. http://ValleCentral.org
Xi'na Navali--Children First
Monterey and Fresno Counties
The Xina Naa Vali/Nacao Sñia/Los niños primero (Children First) program focuses on two outcomes:
1. To increase awareness and understanding of indigenous families about child development and the role they play as the most important teachers of their children during the first five years of their life
2. To promote effective participation of Indigenous families in the decision making process at the local level in the cities they live, generating changes that improve education and welfare of their children
Workshops are provided to groups of indigenous in a series of classes on a weekly basis. The workshops are based on the "Abriendo Puertas” (Opening Doors) curriculum. Participants will learn about a variety of topics to aid the development of stages of their children ages 0-5. The classes are conducted in Mixtec, Trique and Spanish.
Indigenous Youth and Parents Working for a Better Future
By providing basic information in their own language and at spaces that they feel comfortable with. Parents and youth will be working together as a way to support students to excel at schools and aim for higher education with the continued support of CBDIO. This will increase the possibilities of the youth getting out of the cycle of ending up working in agricultural jobs or other low paying jobs and continue the pattern of barriers that our community face due to lack of formal education.
Objective 1: Recruit a total of 25 individuals (parents and students) and provide several series of workshops on issues related to education and spaces that they can participate to support the education.
Objective 2: Develop, along with project participants, a simple plan of action with specific steps to follow by taking immediate steps in supporting their children through school.
Objective 3: Provide a continued support to parents and students by accompanying them at different school spaces, explaining and interpreting for them to be able to understand and voice their concerns in the education of their children.
Objective 4: Consolidate working relationships with current agencies and programs in the education and leadership development area and encourage our project participants to approach and get involve in those programs.
Building Healthy Communites
Engaging Indigenous Residents in Community Health Advocacy: To support Oaxaqueño indigenous residents in Fresno County in accessing specialty care services and advocating for continued access to non-emergency health services for the remaining uninsured including those who are undocumented.
One California-Citizenship Project
-To provide outreach and education to underserved immigrants seeking Naturalization, know your rights information and general immigration referrals.
-To provide immigration legal services to underserved immigrants seeking naturalization.
Where we work
External reviews
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Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
The Centro Binacional para el Desarrollo Indígena Oaxaqueño, (Binational Center for the Development of the Oaxacan Indigenous Communities or CBDIO) was created in 1993 to serve the indigenous migrant communities from Mexico that reside in California, United States (US). The “Indigenous Farmworkers Study” that was published in 2010 estimated that the number of indigenous adults who work in the agriculture sector in the Golden State was 120,000, but could even reach to 165,000 if children are counted. That study also found that the majority of the indigenous population migrated from the states of Oaxaca and Guerrero and that the indigenous languages most commonly spoken are Mixteco, Zapoteco and Triqui (Mines, 2010). We speak different languages and we all have different cultural practices, however, what we all have in common are the challenges that we face in our towns of origin and in the communities we have migrated to.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Since its foundation and incorporation as community benefit organization, CBDIO has been dedicated to implement programs on worker’s rights which provide orientation, education, training, counseling and referrals. We have also promoted the intensive training on professional ethics of indigenous interpreters, so that they can serve as a medium of communication between monolingual indigenous migrants and diverse entities such as health institutions, schools, social service agencies and courts systems, among many others. Likewise, we have worked to increase the participation of indigenous women in the life of the migrant community, by providing training in and promotion of gender equality, self-determination and civic participation. CBDIO also promotes health education on prevention and treatment of different illnesses; it facilitates the access to health and social services and organizes collective advocacy campaigns to help the indigenous communities improve our living conditions.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
CBDIO has grown into 3 offices located in areas dominated by communities of immigrants. CBDIO has a legal office that was initially located in San Jose, was moved to Santa Cruz in 1994, where it remained until 1998 when it was moved to Fresno. Another important milestone in CBDIO's evolving organizational structure was the creation in 2001 of the Executive Director position. In March 2003, an office was opened in Los Angeles. Years later CBDIO opened two more offices to serve the needs of the growing indigenous community: on October 15 2004 the Santa Maria office was opened and in September 13 2006 the Greenfield office. As the presence of indigenous communities in California grows and expands, so does that of CBDIO. With a larger presence we are able to expand our programs and institute new ones as the needs of the community expand and change.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Foremost, we are proud to have just passed our organization's twentieth anniversary. We are a grassroots community organization by and for a marginalized population, and we have persevered through hard times in order to continue serving our community that we love. We have dealt with cutbacks in funding and shortages of the personal needed to meet the needs of the community. Through it all we have remained dedicated to transparency and meeting our original commitments, as well as growing with the needs of subsequent generations. One of our newest accomplishments is the inclusion of young people and their needs in our work. We have worked with their parents' generation to meet the challenges of surviving and raising a family, and now we are working with them to meet the challenges of thriving and pursuing higher education.
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
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CENTRO BINACIONAL PARA EL DESARROLLO INDIGENA OAXAQUENO
Board of directorsas of 12/14/2023
Nayamin Martinez
No Affiliation
Term: 2025 - 2022
Margarita Cordova
NO Affiliation
Term: 2022 - 2025
Nayamin Martinez
Executive Director, Central California Environmental Justice Network
Gaspar Rivera-Salgado
University of California Los Angeles-Labor Center
Eulalio Ruiz
Worker
Eulogio Donato Solano
Worker
Jorge Ramirez
Professor
Seth Holmes
Chancellor's Professor
Margarita Córdova
Construction worker
Chris Schneider
Attorney
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? No
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as: