Congratulations to the 34 participants who graduated from the 2025 LEAD Goleta Bilingual Community Academy! This is the largest class to graduate in the program’s 5-year history and the third bilingual class with Spanish interpretation and translated materials.

LEAD, which stands for Learn, Empower, Advocate and Discuss, is an award-winning bilingual six-week class that gives participants an up-close look at local government and in particular how the City of Goleta operates. The enthusiastic and attentive group from all walks of life received a lot of information during the course of the Academy but all expressed on the final day that they were glad they took the initiative and signed up for the eye-opening experience.

Click here to read the full press release here.

If you are interested in signing up for a future LEAD Goleta class, please email jshaw@cityofgoleta.org to be notified when applications are available.