LEADERS — WHAT IT MEANS to be one, what it takes to be an efficient one, and the way their function has modified during the last twenty years, on this nation and overseas — was the main target of Vicente Fox’s speak just lately on the Lesher Middle for the Arts in Walnut Creek.
“We’re living in a new world. New government, new ideologies, and you really get lost,” the previous president of Mexico mentioned. “Plenty of surprises every single day. Plenty of uncertainty every single day. Plenty of authoritarian governments, and we didn’t used to have that.
Reporter Loujain Habibi, left, and photographer Nakayla Conner are members of Contra Costa Youth Journalism. (CCYJ by way of Bay Metropolis Information)
Nearly each seat within the 785-seat Hofmann Theatre was crammed with Lesher members and curious followers of Fox, who returned to the speaker collection after 17 years.
Every collection occasion is partnered with an area nonprofit group. For this one, the Lesher Basis selected Harmony-based Recent Strategy, which is devoted to bringing Bay Space communities recent produce at inexpensive costs. By means of this philosophy, it has change into a frontrunner in combating meals insecurity and offering individuals with vitamin training.
Partitions can work each methods
Throughout his virtually hourlong speak, Fox emphasised the stark distinction between the state of the world throughout his administration and what he sees at present.
Former Mexican President Vicente Fox greets KTVU information anchor and reporter Claudine Wong previous to a Q&A session on the Lesher Middle for the Arts in Walnut Creek on Monday, Feb, 24, 2025. (Nakalya Conner/CCYJ by way of Bay Metropolis Information)
“We used to go by the rules of the game, and the rules of the game used to be democracy, freedom, humanism, market economy. A lot of trading we used to do in the world. And today, there’s people claiming, ‘no more trade,’ that you can be on your own, your own nation, and your own economy, which is not true,” Fox mentioned. “No economy can survive by itself. No country can build walls and keep people out of your nation, or worse off, to keep your people enclosed, like in a jail within four walls in your own country.
“We need to go back to the good old times where everybody would need everybody, everybody would work with everybody else, everybody would share what you would have (sic),” he added. “Today that’s not happening. But I really miss the old, good times of the past.”
A Q&A session moderated by KTVU Fox 2 anchor Claudine Wong rounded out the night. Fox was open throughout the dialogue and didn’t hesitate to criticize present political leaders in Latin America and the U.S. He known as Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo a puppet and U.S. President Donald Trump an authoritarian.
‘You have a purpose and you work for it’
When requested about what he would say to immigrants dwelling in worry, Fox talked about his e-book “Revolution of Hope,” by which he talks about how one of many best impacts he has had in his life was his childhood mates, who had been 9 or 10 on the time, crying to him about forsaking their household in Mexico to go north to the USA.
“You have a purpose and you work for it. The purpose was I’m gonna make a better living by going to the States and I’m gonna send money to my family here in Mexico. They knew they would risk their lives, and you go through the desert, and you jump the wall, and you swim the river,” Fox mentioned. “They’re nice leaders, and management will not be conserved, it’s not unique to us center courses or to us folks that have larger levels.
Former Mexican President Vicente Fox speaks on the Lesher Middle for the Arts on Monday, Feb, 24, 2025. Fox was the primary of eight audio system scheduled for the 2025 Newsmakers: Lesher Speaker Sequence. (Nakalya Conner/CCYJ by way of Bay Metropolis Information)
“Each one of them is a leader. They took a big risk to come to this nation, but they have a motivation,” he continued. “Every action in life has a purpose. The greater that purpose is, the more heroic that purpose is, the better we will exercise our leadership.”
Alongside together with his spouse, Marta Sahagún — who joined him on this go to — the 2 created Centro Fox, a nonprofit establishment devoted to coaching accountable and compassionate leaders by means of its “President for a day” program.
“You’re leaders, each and every one of you. Either you can be 80 years old like me, or you can be 21 years old like this young man here,” Fox mentioned, waving to a member of the viewers. “We were gifted since our very beginning with a leadership attribute … you knew what leadership is all about, it’s making things happen, it’s dreaming, it’s thinking about a plan. Leaders can change the world.”
Loujain Habibi is a twelfth grader at Liberty Excessive College in Brentwood. Nakayla Conner is an eleventh grader at Pittsburg Excessive College in Pittsburg.
This story initially appeared in CCSpin.
