Trust First with Irving Vázquez of Unidos MN

This post is part of D4PB's launch series, featuring three data practitioners at grassroots organizations in Minnesota.

Irving Vázquez (he/him) is the Digital Director at Unidos MN, where he started as a digital organizer in 2019. Originally from Ecatepec Estado de Mexico, he studied at Minneapolis Community and Technical College (now Minneapolis College) and combines his media and graphic design background with his passion for community organizing and advocacy as a leader in the Latinx community in Minnesota. He is a member of the Minnesota-based Latinx visual artists collective Serpentina Arts and a strong supporter and promoter of local Latin alternative bands. He has worked as a media consultant with Tlalnepantla Arts on Festival de las Calaveras, the Twin Cities Latinx Music + Arts Festival, and is a co-founder of 00.0 Sound System, which documents Latin American alternative bands that come to Minnesota and the Midwest.

Unidos MN (formerly known as Navigate MN) is an intersectional, intergenerational, women- and Latine-led grassroots organization that builds power with Minnesota's working families to advance social, racial and economic justice. As an organization born from the DREAMER movement, the topics of immigration, education, and climate justice are at the core of their work.  Unidos MN organizes for a multiracial, plural, healthy democracy that works for everyone, no exceptions. All people deserve pathways to access a good life (el buen vivir).

Wearing All the Hats

MOLLY It sounds like you do a lot of different things in your role as digital director at Unidos. What are the big categories of how you spend your time? I'm obviously specifically interested in the data, but also in the whole picture. 

IRVING I call myself the jack of all trades, master of none. Digital covers a big umbrella of terms that can go into communications, it can go into data, it could go into graphic design, it could go into video production, it could go a bunch of different ways. That's basically how I got the title of director. I don't really call myself a director, but I'm savvy enough technology-wise that I know how to navigate these systems.

I'm pretty new to data. I've only been doing it for, I want to say three years, probably. And every day I'm learning new things.

MOLLY What are some of the platforms that you use in your work and what do they do for you?

IRVING Data-wise, we use EveryAction, which is connected to the voter activation network (NGP VAN)—that's how we're keeping track of our base. That's mostly the tool that I use, and I've been learning how to get the most out of it. I know some people like to use SQL and Python [coding languages] to get their data more organized. And that's awesome. But I'm like, I cannot look at coding anymore! I've learned HTML, CSS, just to know the basics of web development, but now I need to develop Python or SQL stuff? No, this is just too much. I can barely remember how to add a piece of code to a website if I have to do it manually. And now with technology advancing the way it's advancing, you even have AI that can generate the code for you. I can't keep up with all this stuff, but I do the most that I can.

MOLLY And EveryAction can do a lot even without SQL or Python.

IRVING Exactly, so I've been just trying to learn as much as I can from that platform. And then also I collaborate with The Movement Cooperative, TMC. If there's something that I don't specifically know how to do, then I request their support. They will send me a little training or their help page, and they'll guide me through it.

MOLLY This is how we got connected! You and River Fiocco from TakeAction Minnesota are both in the Minnesota TMC data cohort, and River introduced us. I've been aware of TMC for a while, but haven't been involved directly, so I’m still learning about what they do. What has been the experience of being part of that cohort and being connected to TMC in general? 

IRVING As you stated, it’s a cohort of four or five organizations, which is ISAIAH, Unidos MN, TakeAction, and I believe Land Stewardship Project. If I'm missing somebody, I'm sorry. But basically we all gather and we talk about best data practices. They provide us with VAN, they provide us with EveryAction and other data tools. And they provide some training, they provide you with a strategist, just in case you don't exactly know how to do certain things, the strategist is there for you to help you navigate this stuff or even just provide data for you. Depends on your comfort with data managing, which is not for everybody. 

I'm very patient, you know, I take my time. I let my coworkers know, I don't know how to do it, but I requested it [from TMC]. It's gonna take some time, putting in a ticket for them to help me to get what you want. I'll let you know when we have it.

(Don’t Fear) the Data

IRVING I've been taking my role as data manager-slash-digital director seriously and pushing my coworkers to capture all the data necessary. There's a challenge for me and our Unidos base, since we work with mixed-status families. That means some are undocumented, or they have a citizen kid, or they're married to somebody who is a citizen. Those communities are usually skeptical about handing out their information. So we will only get a phone number or an email, but we won't get the address. We don't get the zip code. Or they don't know their address, so they make something up. Those gaps are the challenge for me, how do I get these people's data? So I have to go and check in with all my coworkers, organizers, and directors. At least get me the ZIP code so we know where are they located, in case we need to do door knocking, we kind of know the area where our people are at. To give them lit drops or propose them to participate. Or if they cannot vote or get involved in the electoral process, they probably know somebody who is a citizen, who is able to vote, and we can get them to talk to them so they can vote. But it's not easy if we don't have those data points.

MOLLY This is such an important issue that people are running into in all kinds of different communities. What are some of the strategies you and your organizers have tried to get enough data for the kinds of organizing you want to be able to do with your folks?

IRVING What I think has worked for us is, well, a good organizer, they do their one-on-ones, they relate to the person that we want to invest in them, and get to know their self-interest. Once we gain that trust, I think it's easier for them to give us those data points and talk to their neighbors, and their community, and kind of get them involved in the whole organizing game. But it's still hard. 

There are also gaps when people are not very familiar with technology, people who, you know, have their phones, you send them a QR code or a link, but they don't know how to use their phone other than just to browse the internet or call or text. They're afraid to put their data in the EveryAction form, or they don't even know their phone number, they don't have those details. They don't have auto-fill set up. So we still need to talk to them and meet them at their needs, even if that's a paper form. And then we struggle with deciphering everybody's handwriting because they'll have different styles. A seven could be a one and a nine could be a four. Trying to figure that out gets hard, but again, it's just what works for them and translating that into our system.

MOLLY Do you find that it's sometimes worthwhile to do, like, a paper sign-in sheet or something to get the data even though there are data entry struggles that come along with that? 

IRVING It's faster at the moment, but it's slower in the long term, I guess. People are more comfortable if you give them the piece of paper and say, please sign in, and they fill it out. But then having to enter the data into a spreadsheet takes time. In the moment, it's a good idea because they're more willing to give you something if you give them the piece of paper and the pen and they write it, than if you say here's the link, fill it up with your phone. And they don't do it, or they say they did it. And then we’re checking who actually attended the event, and they're not there, but we know they were there. Those are the things that sometimes I have to reconcile with my coworkers, okay, so you said you had for example 20 guests, but only 10 people registered. What gives. “Oh no, I'll get their data eventually.” I'm like, please do. 

MOLLY Right, where are those other 10 people?

IRVING Exactly, like, please do. They check the list and say no, this person attended and this person attended, but they didn't sign in. So those are struggles that we have.

MOLLY Pretty universal struggles. There are really good reasons why people are hesitant to give out their personal information. Especially for the undocumented community, those fears aren’t random, they’re really based in reality.

IRVING I think one goal we have with data is educating folks like, do not fear it. We introduce ourselves at every event and we tell them about our goals, we tell them about our victories, and like, this is only possible if we have your support. Once people start learning about the organization, the work that we do, then they feel more comfortable. But yeah, it's really hard at the beginning.

MOLLY It goes back to the trust-building you were talking about. 

Food Shelves to Campaign Wins

MOLLY Is there a moment that comes to mind, a time in your work at Unidos where you could really see the relationship between data and the organizing work? How were you involved and what did you observe?

IRVING During COVID, we all had to change to working remotely. And how do you get people's data that way? It's hard, because organizing has to be really like people bonding, relationships, getting close to them, and trying to do all these things online was pretty harsh. One way that the organization tried to get data and build trust is that we organized food shelves. We partnered with other organizations that specialize in that. People needed groceries and stuff. It was a really, really rough time. We were able to organize with folks, have all the safety precautions, and give them paper forms. That’s one of the ways that you could see organizing and data working, because then we were able to call all those people and tell them about the campaigns that were happening, especially when we won the trifecta [the 2022 statewide elections that led to Democratic control of the Minnesota House, Senate, and governor’s office], which eventually led to one of the big issues that we had been working on since I started, Driver's Licenses For All. Getting people their licenses [regardless of immigration status] so they could be driving safely without that fear of getting stopped. 

Something that I will mention, not my story to tell, but related to me and why I started working here and organizing is because I had a sibling of mine living here who got stopped for not having a license and almost was deported. It was a huge struggle for me and my family to navigate that system. I took part in that campaign last year and literally poured my heart and soul into it. And I was relieved like, oh yes, we did it. We finally did it. Like, everybody can have access to a driver's license. 

All those people that we were helping through the pandemic and navigating all this stuff, you know, eventually we could give them a call and make a call to action: hey, the campaign launches this day. It was literally the beginning of January and there was a horrible snowstorm and people still showed up there. They were like, we want this, we don’t care about the storm.

MOLLY That was last year, January 2023?

IRVING Yes. And that's what I find amazing. Those relationships paid off. That organizing paid off. 

MOLLY That's incredible. Really responding to people's needs in the moment of COVID, then circling back around to getting people involved in something that was really meaningful. 

IRVING Yeah, and it's all part of a process. It's not just getting their data, then you have to involve them in leadership and explaining what organizing actually is and investing in them and getting some of those leaders to step up and have a public life. Because it's not just the organizer, it has to be the community that wants this. 

Are any of us “just” data people?

MOLLY Ok, so I'm thinking about the Digital Director side of your job. I've never been the person doing that work, although I've been around it a lot. How are all these pieces connecting for you?

IRVING It’s really hard. Basically, I have to juggle three things at a time. I have to be a data manager and digital director and then switch to a communicator's hat and work with other people to craft the message. And then, after we have that message, how do I make it visually appealing for folks to be interested and hyped up? It helps that I have a graphic design background.

MOLLY But that's actually three different skill sets, like three quite different kinds of work. 

IRVING: Like I said in the beginning, it's an umbrella. I have to put on many hats and figure out the best way to call on people to take action. It could be as simple as a graphic, a video, or even a livestream. 

And again, going back to the example that happened last year, once we knew we won trifecta and we were going to do this, I knew exactly what I wanted the driver's license campaign to look like. So I went against the clock and did illustration instead of doing what would be easier, just like a nice font and the message, or taking a picture of somebody. I went the extra mile and drew some of my coworkers for the campaign. I'm like, you guys are also affected for this. We all need the driver's license, so you're going to be the face of the campaign. I'll do a cartoon of you holding the driver's license. I did that for most of my friends and coworkers, and they had their posters. I did it as a limited series, and I printed only a certain number of posters to be held at the rallies. And I think people really liked that art. It was something different. 

MOLLY That can transform a campaign, to have a visual that's so specific to that moment. 

IRVING I really wanted it to land. So I had to readjust with the time that I had and the skills that I had at the moment. And it still turned out pretty well. Even some of the authors [legislators who authored the Drivers Licenses for All bill] were asking, can I have my poster? And I had to go ahead and draw them as an appreciation for fighting to get the bill passed.

MOLLY You set yourself up, they were too good! 

IRVING Correct.

Got an idea for a future post, someone I should talk to, or feedback of any kind? Email me at molly@tallgrassco.com! I'd love to hear from you.