Repeating high school isn't on many people's wish lists, but that was a sentiment often heard on Oxnard Leadership '23's Education Day in April. The day began at Oxnard Union High School District (OHUSD) headquarters with Superintendent Tom McCoy and visits to Hueneme High School, Oxnard College, Local 805 Carpenters Union, and Del Sol High School. The day was coordinated by Leadership '22 alum Teodoro Lopez, OUHSD's Web & Multimedia Coordinator, who wanted to highlight the career-focused learning opportunities available from K-12 and beyond. 

​Last month, the Oxnard Leadership Class of 2023 experienced Public Safety Day, which included lunch with County District Attorney Erik Nasarenko and meetings with Oxnard Police Department, Oxnard Fire Department, Ventura County Probation Agency, and Ventura County Sheriff's Department. The jam-packed day was coordinated by Tom Cady, WVCBA Board Member and Former Assistant Chief of Police of Oxnard.

For its second session, the 15 members of the 2023 Oxnard Leadership Program met with leaders to learn about important conversations happening around local housing, redevelopment, and transportation, and their impact on communities (and vice versa). Land Use and Transportation Day was first introduced in 2022 and is coordinated by Oxnard Planning Commissioner Daniel Chavez Jr, a Leadership '19 graduate. 

​A big welcome to the seventh class of the Oxnard Leadership Program! The Class of 2023's first session on January 27 was focused on government and set the stage for many of the topics they will explore over the remaining nine months. This year's class includes 15 participants who represent an array of businesses, agencies and nonprofits in the county (scroll down for the class roster).  

On December 7, the WVCBA celebrated the sixth and largest graduating class of the Oxnard Leadership Program since it began in 2016.  The ceremony took place at Heritage Square Chapel with alumni, friends, family and employers cheering on the 15 graduates who completed the 10-session program in just nine months (condensed due to the COVID surge in early 2022). 

With questions about the ongoing drought, new food waste rules, and Measure E updates, Oxnard Leadership 2022 got answers directly from the city's Public Works department. This was the 10th and final session for the Class of 2022, which is the largest cohort since the program began in 2016. 

As the 2022 Oxnard Leadership program winds down, participants experienced two eye-opening sessions in late September and mid-October. From SWAT demonstrations to packing food for the homeless, Public Safety Day and Health & Human Services Day highlighted two different - yet in many ways connected - aspects of our community. 

On September 30, Leadership participants got a firsthand look at the people and agencies protecting the community with session coordinator Tom Cady, former Assistant Chief of Police for the City of Oxnard and the Chair of the Oxnard Leadership Steering Committee. Public Safety Day began at Oxnard Police Department (OPD) with an overview from Community Affairs Manager Paul Carganilla and a presentation on body cameras from Corina Gardner. At OPD's Sturgis Annex, the group met with Chief Jason Benites, who delivered the keynote address later that day for Ventura County Criminal Justice Training Center’s Academy graduation. They also got an up-close look at SWAT equipment and training exercises. To understand safety services county wide, the group went inside the county's Juvenile Justice Center and the county's jail facility at the Government Center. The day ended by meeting with Sheriff Bill Ayub and Chief Parole Officer Mark Varela for an open Q&A session.