OL Reign Legend: Estela Ortega – Founder and Executive Director of El Centro de la Raza
The Legends Campaign, a partnership between OL Reign and Starbucks, honors women for their extraordinary contributions to our community in the Pacific Northwest and beyond. Prior to the July 31 match against Racing Louisville FC, OL Reign recognized Founder and Executive Director of El Centro de la Raza, Estela Ortega, for her lifelong commitment to community building and social justice.
Ortega’s unwavering commitment to building community and advocating for those most marginalized has earned her and El Centro many awards and recognition from organizations such as the National Education Association and the Seattle Seahawks. In 2018, she was named one of the 50 Most Influential Women in Seattle by Seattle Met Magazine and in 2020 she was named one of the Seattle Times 13 Most Influential People of the Decade.
Ortega has always been mission driven. Her story of hard work and commitment starts at a young age and spans over decades. “It’s a challenge to shorten the story,” she joked.
“I worked in the fields of Texas picking cotton at eight years old, with my brothers to help contribute to the household. That has always stayed with me. I’m so committed to my mission because I myself come from being dirt poor, growing up in a little town outside of Houston. In many ways, I have not forgotten where I came from and that has made me put everything, my time and effort, into building El Centro de la Raza.”
At the age of 22, Ortega was living in Houston, very active in the community. She worked around a lot of social justice matters like voter registration, getting people elected to office, farmworker issues, poverty related affairs, particularly related to kids in the poorer neighborhoods of Houston and she also protested the Vietnam War. Soon, she established a connection that would bring her to Seattle.
“Somebody invited me to a national conference that was going to be held in El Paso, Texas. It was Chicano and Mexican people coming together from all over the country to talk about a national agenda and possibility of forming an alternative political party. That’s where I met people from Seattle, and we stayed in touch. They told me about a building that being occupied for the Latino community and invited me to visit. I thought why not? I’d never been anywhere.”
That was just the beginning for Ortega. She went to Seattle and joined the group in an abandoned school building on Beacon Hill.
“Roberto Maestas, who we today refer to as our leader organizer was running an English language program and his funds got cut because there was no longer a commitment to the war on poverty and instead the dollars were going to support the Vietnam war. At that time there was a lot of action happening. Dr. King had been assassinated four years earlier, the Vietnam War was raging, college campuses were in an uproar in terms of young people protesting war, farm workers from the Yakima Valley were being displaced because of the mechanization of the agricultural industry. The people decided to stay together and occupy the building,” Ortega explained.
She arrived to the building three weeks into the occupation. The next three months would be a long and difficult struggle, but with the support of communities of color, the faith community and the anti-war community at the time. The group’s determination paid off.
“The city council and the school district turned over the building to the Mexican/Chicano/Latino community to begin to develop programs for the community. It was a white elephant because it needed a whole lot of work and then in 1997, we officially purchased the building for 1.3 million dollars.”
Next year, El Centro de la Raza will be 50 years old. El Centro de la Raza seeks to serve and empower all to learn from each other and unite energies in the noble struggle for basic social change. Over the last 50 years, El Centro has been involved in almost every social justice point of issue within Seattle and the surrounding area, whether the issues related to war, resources coming into the city, police accountability, etc.
“I’ve basically dedicated my entire life to helping build this organization to be able to provide services so that people can have a better life with dignity and respect because I know what it’s like to be dirt poor,” said Ortega.
“The work that we have done in the last 50 years has not been easy. It is hard work, day in and day out. I literally work seven days a week, ten to twelve hours a day for years on end because that’s what it takes when you are a community,” Ortega shared. “I’ve done every conceivable job that there is to do when you are building an organization, from secretarial and administrative work, to directing departments, to being the janitor and just all sorts of things. The thing that I always tell people is when you are building something, especially for the community, no task is beneath you. You do whatever it takes. Even if you are cleaning the toilets and mopping the floors.”
Ortega is huge on community and believes that people need inspiration from others, that you don’t make it through life alone. Rather than just giving people generic advice, she believes that you should encourage young people to seek help on their journeys to where they want to go.
“It’s about mentoring. You can tell them that they just need to work hard, but you need help along the way. Working as hard as you can towards your goal and not losing sight of it is important. Maybe there will be some bumps, but you can get back up and work at it again. I don’t feel that people can do it alone. They need inspiration,” shared Ortega.
At El Centro de la Raza, the staff come together weekly to get to know each other better. “We learn about each other’s cultures and discuss topics like why poverty exists and racism and how do we solve that. As a woman working at El Centro early on, I was continually encouraged and that mentoring in the work that I was doing on a daily basis,” said Ortega.
She continued to explain, “People want to be a part of something and when you create opportunities for them to be a part of, people are moved by that and begin making a difference in the lives of the people that they are volunteering to help or that the positions they are taking are right and just.”
“People want opportunities to volunteer to stand up and understand issues and lead, just like the Reign players are doing. The positions that the players have been taking on many different issues. I know that they are standing up for equality and justice for all people, so I’m honored to be receiving the award and the fact these young women are not only providing an example to young women in terms of developing their confidence, but standing up for what is just,” said Ortega.
Ortega encouraged anyone that is interested in getting involved with El Centro to reach out. “At El Centro, our volunteers are the lifeblood of El Centro de la Raza and part of our familia. Your time, energy, passion and skills help us build the Beloved Community, as Dr. King described. We have volunteer opportunities available for individuals, groups, and English or Spanish speakers who would like to become part of the community. Volunteers support our food bank, various programs, auction gala, bilingual legal clinics, tax preparation, our after-school programs and so much more. To volunteer as a community member, student, or corporate group please visit our website at elcentrodelaraza.org, emailing volunteer@elcentrodelaraza.org or calling (206) 957-4602.”
“As an individual, I do not separate myself from what I am as El Centro de la Raza, being there for almost 50 years and doing every conceivable job. As an ordinary individual, because that’s what I am, it is truly an honor to be named an OL Reign Legend because of the Reign’s profile and how they view social justice and how they see institutional racism and they want to take a stand on those issues. It’s so important. They have a lot of supporters who look up to them and they are providing leadership on those positions that they take,” Ortega shared.
“All I can say is that I’m extremely honored because they are recognizing an organization, a community, that has been at work for almost 50 years, day in and day out. It’s a beautiful recognition. I am very grateful.”