Organización Las Panchas

Organización Las Panchas (OLP) was founded by five women from the Central Valley. Before the founding of OLP, the combined years of experience of community volunteerism of the founding members was over one hundred years. Each of the founders are mothers and immigrants.

Spanish is their first language. Each member has children that were classified by local school districts as being English language learners. The five founders have much experience with navigating the educational system as parents and later as advocates for English language learners and special education students. Two of the founders are parents of children with special needs. During the pandemic the founding members came to a consensus that their combined knowledge, experience, and wisdom were worth something to the community that struggles with a lot of the same problems that the founders had endured in years prior.

They did not want to keep the knowledge to themselves, they wanted to share it with others so that the community could expedite their own upward mobility. So, like many other groups and individuals during the pandemic, in January of 2022 OLP was formed using Zoom and Facebook as mediums to bring information to the community. As soon as the quarantine was lifted Las Panchas teamed up with other organizations and helped the community to start a new chapter by bringing our collective volunteerism to new heights. In 2023 Las Panchas officially became a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.