An Overview of VIDA Programs
VIDA offers a Certificate in Leadership and Social Change and sponsors or helps coordinate
several other programs, including California Campus Camp, Community Service Learning,
HEFAS, LEAD, Public Policy School and the VIDA Internship.
Download the VIDA brochure.
Certificate in Leadership and Social Change
This certificate prepares students to be leaders in their communities and at their workplaces by gaining in-depth knowledge of social structures that define their worlds, and how to transform those structures in order to make the world a more equitable place.
California Campus Camp
Formerly called Campus Camp Wellstone, this is an intensive and energizing training program that is open to De Anza students interested in gaining practical skills in progressive political action. A distinctive curriculum is taught by some of the nation's leading experts in grassroots politics and organizing along three elements: progressive public policy, which lays out an agenda for action; grassroots community organizing, which builds a constituency to fight for change; and grassroots electoral politics, which provides tools for influencing and holding decision-makers accountable. If you are interested in participating, please contact Nicky Yuen at 408.864.8535 or yuennicky@deanza.edu.
Community Service Learning
Community Service Learning is a form of experiential education in which students apply knowledge, skills, critical thinking and good judgment to address genuine community needs. CSL can be required or can be attached as additional credit in G.E. courses from all disciplines at De Anza College.
Higher Education for AB 540 Students (HEFAS)
HEFAS is an institutional and educational program that provides free services, reduces financial stress and creates a safe space for all with an emphasis on undocumented and AB 540 students. We're dedicated to empowering students, building leaders, promoting social justice, and advocating for higher education. Our vision is to give students, parents, educators, and community members the tools to help undocumented students reach higher education regardless of the barriers that may exist.
Latina/o Empowerment at De Anza (LEAD)
LEAD aims to help students find a connection to our college and their communities and understand how powerful they can be as agents for positive social change. LEAD! courses are English Writing, English Literature, and Intercultural Studies courses that emphasize Latina/o culture, history, literature, and social issues with a strong emphasis on service learning projects.
Public Policy School
VIDA and the Political Science Department created PPS to teach students about the policymaking process, to train them in public advocacy, and to empower them to advance community interests. Students put their public policy advocacy skills to work locally, at the state level, and at the federal level with trips to Sacramento and Washington, D.C. All travel, housing, and meal expenses are covered by PPS.
VIDA Internship
The VIDA internship is a 10-month internship designed to support student organizing around promoting access to and success in higher education for community college students.
Transforming De Anza
Want to get involved with issues at De Anza? This is a new project that will focus on issues around of food justice, transportation and other issue centralized around De Anza.
ProACTive Policy
Want to get involved in politics that impacts UPOR life? Want to effect change on a state-wide and national level? Want to learn more about how all people can make massive political change? Join ProACTive Policy in our commitment to policy that serves the people as well as help with our goals of voter education and registration.
SIREN
SIREN is the largest immigrant rights organization in Silicon Valley, they service the community through 3 different components: 1. Legal Services 2. Policy Advocacy 3. Community Organizing Ideal volunteers should have a strong interest in learning about immigration law, immigrant rights, and policy. Position could involved working with local elected officials on strengthening protection policies for immigrants in Santa Clara County
De Anza San Jose Renters' Rights Campaign
Join a movement to fight back against skyrocketing rents, unjust evictions and displacement of tenants! Housing is a human right! Participants will attend meetings and join some of the most influential non-profits in San Jose in spreading awareness, gathering votes and convincing city council members to approve measures to stabilize rents in San Jose and make the Silicon Valley affordable to live in.
California Healthy Nail Salon Collaborative
Walk into a nail salon and what’s the first thing you notice? If you said the smell of chemicals, you know why we exist. Chemical exposure from the nail products increase physical and reproductive health risks and we believe these workers (almost all women) should not have to choose between their health and their livelihoods. For 12 years the Collaborative has grown into a statewide coalition of 20 organizations fighting for the health and safety of the 129,000 manicurists and 312,000 cosmetologists across the state, most of whom are low-income women of color or immigrants of reproductive age.
1500 Stories- Creative Art and Storytelling with a political purpose
1500 Stories is a collaborative art, storytelling and civic engagement project aimed at sharing stories of economic inequality in the U.S, beginning in the Silicon Valley. One of the goals of the project is to foster empathetic connections among people through the experience of listening and being heard; another is to break the silence in the U.S. around class and economic position through the idea that everyone, no matter what their socioeconomic status, has a story to share. This fall, the project is holding 2 public forums about economic inequality in partnership with Sacred Heart and could use volunteers to help out with these events.