Meet our 2021 ATHENA Award Recipient: Eonis Cibrian Pelayo
A Spotlight on Eonis Cibrian Pelayo, the 2021 ATHENA Award Recipient
By Leslie King, Marketing and Events Manager at the Mountain View Chamber of Commerce
Nomination written by Emily Ann Ramos
Eonis Cibrian Pelayo
2021 ATHENA Award Recipient for the Mountain View Chamber of Commerce
This year, we have combined on ATHENA Award Ceremony with our Celebration of Leaders event. It will take place virtually on Thursday, June 17 from 5-7pm. The link to register is here.
The ATHENA Award Program was created through the Lansing, Michigan Chamber of Commerce in 1982 to bring into focus the many outstanding professional and business women in the community and to incorporate them into leadership positions within the Chamber. The Greek goddess was chosen as the award’s symbol for her embodiment of COURAGE, WISDOM, AND STRENGTH -- all qualities that today's leaders must have to succeed in the business world. The bronze award sculpture itself represents the solid foundation upon which all success is built combined with a complex crystal reflecting the multi-faceted nature of women and their ability to shed light on the community.
These exceptional individuals demonstrate excellence, creativity and initiative in their business or profession, contribute time and energy to improve the quality of life for others in the community, and generously assist women in reaching their full potential.
Since the program’s inception, more than 7,000 exemplary leaders in over 500 communities have received the prestigious ATHENA Award in the United States and around the world. By honoring exceptional leaders, the ATHENA Leadership Award Program seeks to inspire others to achieve excellence in their professional and personal lives. We are proud to continue the tradition!
The Chamber is pleased to honor Eonis Cibrian Pelayo with the ATHENA Award. Eonis Cibrian Pelayo is the Director of Community Relations and Advocacy at the Community Services Agency of Mountain View, Los Altos, and Los Altos Hills. In this newly created position, Eonis is responsible for outreach and advocacy, which includes overseeing the Community Resource Navigator Program, which she developed and launched in 2018 to empower community leaders to bridge the gap between vulnerable communities and critically needed services.
Nominated by Emily Ann Ramos, Eonis truly embodies the tenants of the ATHENA Award. Below, we share some of what Emily wrote in her nomination of Eonis.
Eonis comes from an underserved rural farming community. Her mother has been blind for many years. As a child, Eonis had to help her mother navigate daily life while also completing her school work and other activities, including leadership in social activism. She was one of the few community members to leave and attend college at San Jose State University and continue her career in the Bay Area. Her education, activism, and work experience are an inspiration to the members of her home community, especially young women.
Eonis inspires young women by advocating, finding resources and caring for their needs. Her heart is full of love as she goes above and beyond for the people served at CSA. She puts her clients and her staff and coworkers above herself half the time, and will extend out a whole arm when you ask for a hand. She will do whatever it takes to make sure her community is being heard and that she builds strong relationships with outside agencies to ensure that there is not just one person representing a whole group, but multiple people with multiple skill levels joining together to be there for those who are in need. She doesn’t look for profit or recognition for herself, but for the best quality support for our clients. Her coworker, Nicole described Eonis as the following:
“Eonis, in my opinion, is what true feminism is about. Eonis is a young Latina who embraces her culture through empowering her community and providing a voice that fights for a population that is deeply stigmatized and often put down. Eonis is a strong daughter of two immigrant parents and has seen her family suffer to obtain the “American dream” for their children. She is an inspiration due to the fact that she just continues to grow from so many different situations, both good and hurtful.”
At the start of the pandemic, Eonis developed and launched the Community Navigator Program (CNP) at Community Services Agency (CSA) in Mountain View, to empower community leaders from disadvantaged communities to share resources with those who lack access to available services. She trained these volunteers who are trusted by members of the immigrant community allowing them to go out and share with the immigrant population about available resources and of upcoming workshops or meetings. A majority of the community leaders in this program are women.
Eonis has worked at CSA for over three years and in her initial role as a Case Manager, she helped many housed and un-housed members of the immigrant community. She would help clients navigate the green card or citizenship process and connect them to proper services. In this capacity, she was dedicated, compassionate and always willing to go the extra mile for her clients. For example, Eonis once had a case where a client was dealing with domestic violence and also had an expired green card. She ensured the client had legal representation and got a restraining order in place. Eonis went to the court dates to support the client in this difficult process. Because of her work, the client was able to reinstate her green card and relocate to a safe place away from the abuser. Currently, Eonis serves as the Director of Community Relations and Advocacy leading the Community Navigators Program. The CNP is dedicated to making sure that community members who historically miss out on services and resources, due to misinformation or fear, are informed of these resources in a way that is culturally appropriate and sensitive. This program has had a large focus on the immigrant community, especially in a time of heightened fear.
She introduced a weekly video log - “Making it Work Mondays” - to help the community stay updated on current and modified services at CSA, as well as community resources to ensure equity and accessibility during a time of heightened fear for many of our underserved populations. Eonis took on the massive challenge of connecting the immigrant community to valuable resources such as immigration legal services, tenant rights, affordable housing, and civic engagement. She has met with concerned tenants, who are at risk of displacement, at smaller informal community locations, sometimes even outside in a parking lot to mitigate community members’ fear of their landlords finding out. A year later, the CNP successfully continues to provide educational workshops and legal clinics centralized on economic rights, immigration, and tenant rights on a regular basis. The CNP explored, expanded, and developed the COVID-19 Positive Relief Team to support the community’s immediate needs for their quarantine efforts by connecting them to rental assistance, and delivering food and COVID care packages. The newly-launched COVID Positive Relief Team has already served 96 Households. Recently, Eonis received a $3,000 professional development grant from the Walter & Marian English Awards fund administered by the Columbus Foundation.
Before the pandemic, Eonis would attend city council meetings to be a resource for vulnerable families facing evictions and displacement. She has also participated at community meetings, walks and local protests to advocate for the welfare of the immigrant community. Eonis volunteered to be part of the Rapid Response Network (RRN) to be a dispatcher and help respond to ICE activity in North County. She would also travel to the location of the reported ICE activity to confirm if it was a false report. In addition, when there has been ICE activity, Eonis would meet with the individual or family impacted and assess what immediate resources they need and help get these resources implemented as soon as possible.
On behalf of the entire Chamber staff, congratulations to Eonis for receiving this award!
Please join us tomorrow evening, June 17th at the Celebration of Leaders & ATHENA Awards where we will honor Eonis!
