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The Calle 24 Latino Cultural District has hired local artist and professor of Latino Studies at SF State Tom\u00e1s Riley as its new executive director, and has new home at the corner of 24th and Capp streets.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe opportunity came out of the blue,\u201d said Riley, on his third day at his new job. \u201cI was exploring options for what to do after the semester. I\u2019ve alway been looking for opportunities in the community. Calle 24 is an organization that\u2014even as a resident of 20 years\u2014I watched closely just because of their activity, their name and their actions.\u201d<\/p>\n
Riley, who has taught arts at C\u00e9sar Ch\u00e1vez Elementary School and SF State along with his administrative experience, knew that it wasn\u2019t by accident that he had been offered an opportunity to lead at Calle 24.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would say that it was a mix of sensing community need and understanding where this organization fit into the overall development of the neighborhood,\u201d said Riley, when asked about taking on the role of executive director.<\/p>\n
As the executive director of an organization that represents and defends merchants, residents, artists, tenants, families and organizations in the neighborhood, Riley is well aware of the neighborhood\u2019s history in the past 20 years and the challenges of dealing with gentrification that continue to plague the community.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe all know the most relevant issues because they\u2019re front and center,\u201d Riley said. \u201cGentrification is the biggest problem confronting the neighborhood \u2026 Our biggest challenge would be coexistence and alignment so that even when we resist, we continue to resist what\u2019s happening\u2026 and to protect specifically the shop owners, and residents in this immediate district that are so vulnerable to market forces that some of the newcomer businesses are better prepared resource-wise to deal with.\u201d<\/p>\n
Riley\u2019s immediate goal as the executive director is to help bolster Calle 24 as it stands and take the next step toward long-term sustainability, paving the way for the next generation. Given his long-term commitment to youth development and education, Riley said he plans to help develop new leadership in the neighborhood.<\/p>\n
\u201cI view coming through the door as my chance to pave the way,\u201d said Riley. \u201cI benefited a lot from the work of my elders and I believe this is my chance to give back in that regard some of what I got just from community support and elder support and the actions from people before me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Riley was born in Oakland, but grew up in San Diego, later relocating back to the Bay Area and now currently living in the Mission District. In 2002, he worked as a bilingual 4th grade teacher at C\u00e9sar Ch\u00e1vez Elementary School.<\/p>\n
Now, 17 years later, Riley continues to enjoy being at the center of the neighborhood and helping as much as possible. He said he welcomes the community into the new space located on the corner of 24th and Capp streets.<\/p>\n
\u201cCalle 24 is here as a resource for all elements of the community,\u201d said Riley. \u201cThrough our work we hope to discover all of top priority challenges facing each of these communities. Advocate from our position and support as best we can as an anchor institution in the neighborhood all of the efforts to preserve the character of the place we call home.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
[su_carousel source=”media: 40111,40112,40113″ limit=”100″ link=”lightbox” width=”800″ height=”540″ responsive=”no” items=”1″] The Calle 24 Latino Cultural District has hired local artist and professor of Latino Studies at SF State Tom\u00e1s Riley as its new executive director, and has new home at the corner of 24th and Capp streets. \u201cThe opportunity came out of the blue,\u201d said Riley, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":35,"featured_media":40111,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":false,"newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[3989,17626],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-40110","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-calle-24-latino-cultural-district","tag-tomas-riley","entry"],"yoast_head":"\n