Community Club Interview Report

Sebastian Barerra has been a part of the Parkdale Cromdale community for seven years and he continues to be an integral part of the changes in our neighborhood as we continue to grow. He will be acting as our new Program Director here at Parkdale Cromdale Community League and will work to provide different events and classes for all of us to access. In turn, we have decided to interview him for you to get know him better!

First a little background information; Sebastian has a daughter who is seven years old. His hobbies and work seem to melt together, as he finds that community development is not only his responsibility but passion. He is not only a Program Director, but a Youth Program Coordinator, and a musician, playing guitar for local

So I’m hard to deal with.

T: Stubborn you might say?

S: Yup. *Laughter* Yes I am.

T: What drove you to become a part of the board for the community league?

S: The vision. When I came to Edmonton the first time, I noticed there was not as much community. You can have community spaces and community engagement, but at the end of the day, everyone goes home and that’s it. I was looking to create a space where we can have ongoing relationships and where people can meet to create community building.

There was a group of people working, they were trying to redevelop the space and open the doors for new members to come through. I was invited by Martin Bandura, who used to be the President of the community league, and he brought me here and said: “Sebastian, I would love you to bring your energy and vision to help me set up this community.”

I think that was what engaged me - I saw the community league as an opportunity to develop a grassroots movement through community development.

T: You have taken over the position of the program director, what drew you to that rather than other positions and what will you be doing as programs

The status quo of most community league boards is 5-6 people but in this case, we want a large group, 16-18 people. We want people to come to our board meetings to provide different opinions and points of view. We need people to be taking the lead. My dream is to have subcommittees coming to report what they’re doing to the board and inviting them, rather than having them ask permission. I want them to have freedom and empowerment because then they can focus their passion where they would like to. Do you know what I