50 Leading Women: Julissa Estrada

In honor and celebration of our Women’s Division‘s 50th Anniversary, we will be spotlighting 50 Leading Women making an impact, raising their voice, and leading the next generation of women in the workforce and Plano community.

Introducing, Julissa Estrada, Executive Director of The Local Good Center. Julissa oversees The Local Good Center, an extension of Chase Oaks Church, as they work towards their mission “to create lasting good within our local community by providing opportunities for personal and community-wide transformation.” In order to accomplish their mission, they offer programs focused on four key pillars: Advocacy, Wellness, Education, and Job Readiness.

Julissa has spent her entire life around people from a variety of ethnic, socio-economic, and religious backgrounds. Her childhood experiences in Oak Cliff, Virginia, and South Dallas have shaped her commitment to love and serve others in a way that honors their dignity. She is thrilled to help create access to life-changing services which may otherwise seem unattainable.

Julissa currently lives in Allen with her husband Albert, their three children, and their beloved Yorkie, Cesar.

1. Describe your leadership style and how you lead others.

Empowerment. I believe in being available, defining what success looks like, training, encouraging, and then getting out of the way to allow new leaders to lead.

2. How can women develop their leadership skills in the workforce?

I believe leadership skills can be developed by really understanding and learning your brand, connecting to your audience, modeling hard work, and developing an authentic reputation in your industry/community. If you are always learning, have great work ethic, and take initiative, people will be inspired to follow you.

3. What are the most important decisions you make as a leader?

1). Who I hire. Having the right talent makes all the difference.

2). The boundaries in place to encourage our organization to stay focused. In the nonprofit world, the needs are big and very complicated. Having clear assignments is extremely important if we want to create a lasting impact.

4. What has been one of your biggest joys as a leader?

I love seeing change and transformation. I get to see transformations in people’s lives regularly.  Whether it’s a volunteer finding their sweet spot and leveraging their talents to serve others, or an individual walking into our space for services and seeing them accomplish goals such as English language development, gaining U.S. Citizenship, improving their parenting skills, gaining employment, and so forth, or someone on my staff creating a successful program that they were originally unsure of and having that program succeed.

5. What strategies could be used to promote inclusion in the workplace?

Open and ongoing dialogue is very valuable.  Not limiting inclusion to race but making it broad enough to include social economic status, age disparities, gender equity, access equity, and more.  Hearing different perspectives on what inclusion means to different people is powerful.

6. What advice would you give your 25-year-old self?

I would reassure myself that I am exactly where I’m supposed to be.  That every decision that I made would (good and bad) prepare me for something bigger.

7. What advice can you give to the next generation of female leaders?

Find a mentor and mentor someone. Support and encourage other women. There is room for all of us.  Also, always strive to be part of the solution.  Identifying problems is easy, being part of the solution is where we grow.

8. Who inspired you and why?

I’m always inspired by people who succeed against all odds.  People who by no fault of their own have overcome a huge disadvantage. Like immigrants, refugees, orphans, foster kids, and those with limited access to basic resources.

9. What do you want to be remembered for?

I would love to be remembered for being all in for what I believe in.  For being dedicated to the things I’m passionate about:  my family, friends, job, and my faith.