Jose Vaquera

Vice President

José Vaquera didn’t see himself as college material while growing up in South Phoenix in the 1980s. Having come to the U.S. at age 12, the Hermosillo, Sonora, native landed with his mother and sister in a neighborhood that primarily valued street smarts over book learning. 

“You had to try to act tough, and being an educated individual in the area was not necessarily a goal for a lot of our folks,” he said. “I just felt like I didn’t belong in an institution of higher learning.”

But as a student at South Mountain High, Vaquera learned about Upward Bound, a federal program that prepares low-income and first-generation students for college. As fate would have it, he met two people who changed the trajectory of his life and gave him the tools and guidance to pay it forward and help countless young people - still to this day. 

The two educators were the late Irvin Coin, who directed Upward Bound at South Mountain, and Marianne Roccaforte-Gardner, a program advisor. Coin died in February 2023, and his online obituary has dozens of tributes from former students, one writing, “I will hold his mission to ‘develop an Army of leaders who will change the world’ close to my heart.”

“They gave me the sense that I belonged just like every other student, and a network, a group of other students who had the same situations, the same family background,” said Vaquera, Chief Operating Officer of Friendly House, a legendary social services agency in Phoenix. “That’s what really got me to college and through it.”

During his two decades of nonprofit service, Vaquera has doggedly pursued his passion for helping young people because he sees himself in each of them. He is a grounded, collaborative, big-hearted leader who models consistency and reliability not only in his day job, but as Vice President of the South Central Collaborative (S.CC). S.CC, a community of professionals, residents, artists, advocates, neighborhood leaders, entrepreneurs and business owners was formed in 2016 to ensure that the City of Phoenix’s South Central Light Rail Project became a true neighborhood enhancement project.

On every rung of his career, Vaquera has stepped into gaps on behalf of the most vulnerable.

Becoming a Leader

While Vaquera pursued a bachelor’s degree in history at ASU, he also worked part-time in the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office, where he assigned attorneys to represent indigent people.

“I was inundated with calls from distraught parents whose kids were removed from the home by the state and placed in temporary foster care because they were considered to be in danger,” he said. “And I felt like I wasn’t doing anything because it was after the fact. People were already in trouble, had already made their mistakes, and I was not really doing anything proactive to prevent it.”

After becoming a U.S. citizen in 1996 at age 25, Vaquera started teaching citizenship classes at Friendly House in 2001. The South Phoenix nonprofit was established in 1920 to assist immigrants in acquiring citizenship, education and literacy skills necessary for assimilation. But it has since evolved into a transformational organization with wide-ranging programs addressing education, workforce development, family support, basic needs and immigration.

His next assignment was on Friendly House’s workforce development team, which provided skills and support for clients. 

“I pushed myself, doing cold calling, going into businesses and asking if they were interested in a program for folks in need of work,” said Vaquera, who had such a knack for the work that he was assigned to replicate the organization’s workforce development model with schools in Tolleson.

“We talked to the principals about this great program that would help them, and when they saw we would try to embed with their teachers, with the programming, that the teachers would receive help, they appreciated that,” he said. 

Later, he joined Friendly House’s youth services department and formed a successful Upward Bound program there, serving 550 students in grades 6 through 12 in South Central Phoenix.

“These kids don’t have that example of parents who’ve gone through college, so the idea is not only to work with the kids, provide them motivation, but also with the parents,” Vaquera said. 

The program funded field trips to Arizona universities and led conversations about the students’ interests and potential careers, how to start college funds and apply for scholarships and financial aid. 

As he climbed the management ranks, ultimately being named Friendly House’s Chief Operating Officer in early 2024, Vaquera learned a valuable lesson. “Sometimes I was out of my depth and I needed to depend on the professionals around me. That’s where I stopped being so hands-on, letting folks do their work, developing a close rapport, and providing guidance when necessary,” he said. “But I’ve been here for so long, there’s stability, and I think people appreciate that.”

Advocating for the community 

Vaquera also is involved in Friendly House’s Pre-K through 8th grade charter school, Academia del Pueblo, which opened in the South Central corridor in 1997.

“We’re right in the middle of the community, and parents feel comfortable with us,” he said. “It’s like home, you know? And the staff knows the names of all of the nearly 300 students.”

Because the school has been significantly impacted by construction of the light-rail just two blocks away, Vaquera’s involvement in the city’s South Central Transit Oriented Development Community Plan for the massive investment project was critical. He also is a member of the Valley Metro Construction Advisory Board.

“The street is small anyway, but if you block it in any way or make it a little bit confusing, it can be a problem for our families, and it’s hugely important that our community members are not intimidated coming to us.” he said. “Through the Collaborative we guided the design and development of the light rail and had a seat at the decision making table to protect the health of families and businesses along the line.”

It also was important to Vaquera that community members had access to and training for job opportunities with the light rail construction contractor and subcontractors.

“They're big budget companies. And this is a huge cost to the government, the community, to all of us,” he said. “We said, ‘Give our folks the opportunity to have gainful employment, good jobs that will lead to wealth creation for their families’.”

Friendly House opened an electrical training program to qualify local people for some work on the project and has helped women in the Corridor learn about jobs in construction.

“If it wasn't for the leadership of everybody within the Collaborative, we couldn’t have had as much impact as we did,” he said. “And not just the workforce, but in general — what makes our community healthy? The wealth creation is huge, but also more opportunities, in adult education, working on your GED, finding not just a job, but a career.”

In addition, with Vaquera’s support Friendly House is embarking on a new project in partnership with Wesley Health Center, the construction of a new, state-of-the-art medical health center, the Mary Rose Wilcox Center for Healthcare and Innovation adjacent to the new light rail project.

Preserving the old, planning the new

Vaquera remembers the orchards and flower gardens that once flourished near South Mountain Community College. He cherishes his neighborhood, its people, traditions, culture and art, the Rio Salado Habitat along the Salt River, and the small businesses dotting the city’s streets. 

Vaquera married his high school sweetheart, Toya, a teacher, 20 years ago, and are raising their two children in the South Phoenix community. He is somewhat amused that the rest of the city is finally interested in what has always been there. 

“All of a sudden, people woke up and discovered there’s a South Phoenix, that it’s a hugely important place for the city,” Vaquera said. “I never thought I’d see so many businesses, so much development, and I’m happy that it’s been rediscovered.”

He hopes that, with all of its vacant land, the South Central Corridor can be a leader in building affordable housing, concert and other entertainment venues, skilled-workforce training centers, medical facilities and other amenities. 

Success will only come through continuous, careful planning and implementation decision making that incorporates the voices and intentions of the community and adheres to the South Central TOD Community Plan.

“I just want people to be sensitive to those living here who may not be as educated as they are, or lived in the U.S. as long as they have,” Vaquera said. “There’s got to be room for everybody.”