04 Jan Richmond Woman Has a ‘Vision’ for Latino Families

Mayra Diaz is a certified life coach and the executive director of Richmond’s Generations Vision for the Future.

Story and photos by Denis Perez-Bravo

For more than eight years, certified life coach Mayra Diaz has served Richmond families through her organization Generations Vision for the Future.

The group’s mission is to foster connection and cultural pride among Spanish-speaking families through its programs, encouraging quality time between parents and children.

To that end, GVF hosts family camps, youth workshops, parental seminars, martial arts classes, holiday parties and cultural events in partnership with local organizations and vendors.

On Dec. 17, GVF collaborated with organizations and vendors from across Contra Costa County to host a family arts-and-crafts event with hot drinks, followed by a toy giveaway outside El Sol Furniture on 23rd Street.

“We are giving board games as gifts so that they can teach, socialize, make memories, and spend quality time together,” Diaz said. “We know that quality time is very important for the growth and foundation of our children’s lives.”

Diaz estimates that GVF serves about 500 people annually.

“We use the radio, we use our events, we go to parent clubs, to schools, and we interact personally and directly with our people,” Diaz said.

Diaz began organizing under GVF in 2017, building support among Richmond families. In 2020, she launched a radio show called “La Hora Del Diálogo” (“Time for Dialogue”) on Radio Sol 98.1, which broadcasts from El Sol Furniture. The show has helped her reach more families in Richmond and beyond.

Since then, GVF”s events have drawn support from across Contra Costa County.

One supporter is certified life coach Carolina Ramos, who is working with GVF to create a free emotional and spiritual women’s support group on Zoom. The Spanish-language sessions will be held Mondays at 7 p.m. Those interested can contact Ramos at (707) 738-2524 for dates and registration.

“I met Mayra because we were coaching partners when we got certified as life coaches, and she invited me here to collaborate,” Ramos said. “I told her I am interested in helping people heal.”

Ramos helps host “La Hora Del Diálogo” and has volunteered at GVF events, including the 2024 Catrina parade.

In that event, teenage girls spent weeks creating dresses with their families to wear in the parade, competition and photo sessions. La Catrina is an elegantly dressed female skeleton figure prominent in Mexico’s Day of the Dead celebrations.

“I was very impressed when one of the participating girls told us how she and her family designed the dress,” said Ramos, who served as a judge.

Unbeknownst to the judges when they crowned her the winner, the photo displayed in front of the girl’s dress was of her deceased brother. Ramos spoke with her after the contest about the image’s meaning.

“I saw how, even in the midst of pain, sadness and grief, they came together as a family to do something, to create something beautiful,” Ramos said. “And the young woman had the courage and strength to participate in the Catrinas parade, and she was actually the winner.”

That fusion of family connection and healing has always been the goal, Diaz said.

Her reward, she said, is witnessing transformative moments such as watching young girls overcome social anxiety to walk a runway with cultural pride, celebrated by a crowd.

“And they have done it spectacularly well,” Diaz said. “After the event, those girls are no longer the same.”