A year after his death, JJ Saldaña still offers a safe place for Latinos in Idaho • Idaho Capital Sun

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I first met JJ in October 2017. I was a senior in high school and attending the annual Idaho Hispanic Youth Leadership Summit.

The summit is organized by Idaho Commission on Hispanic Affairsa state-funded organization founded in 1987 that works with the state government and the Hispanic population of Idaho to understand their needs and promote educational and employment opportunities. The summit are similar to college fairs, but focus on helping young Latinos from Idaho overcome the obstacles they face when applying to college.

JJ Saldaña co-founded the Summits and worked for nearly 24 years for the Idaho Commission on Hispanic Affairs, where he connected with Latinos across the state to identify their needs and connect them with programs that would help them.

“You cannot be what you cannot see,” he often said, expressing his passion for increasing the number of Latin American politicians in leadership positions.

My mother and I drove seven hours from northern Idaho to Boise to attend the summit, which was held at the Student Union Center at Boise State University.

“Bridge of pillars,” she told me, which means “put the batteries in” — a phrase Latino parents often say to their children. Basically, it means work hard and pull yourself together.

I was nervous and intimidated because I was one of the few people who had come home from school alone rather than with a group, but I knew my mom was right. If I wanted to go to college or even afford college, I needed to make as many connections as possible.

I told the person at check-in my name and the name of my high school.

“She’s our only student from North Idaho with us today,” said a man behind the check-in booth.

He was holding an iPad. He was wearing a bow tie, a vest and brown leather shoes. He handed me a folder with my schedule and then shook my hand.

“We're so glad you're here,” he said. “Thanks for coming all the way to Boise. I'm JJ.”

His warmth and joy at my presence made me feel instantly more at ease. That day included workshops on financial aid and meetings with admissions counselors from Idaho colleges. As overwhelming as it was for me at the time, it was ultimately a life-changing event for me. It made me realize that there are many Latinos my age in Idaho – something I was unaware of, having grown up in northern Idaho. It was also the place where I first had contact with my now alma mater – the College of Idaho.

At the end of the event, my mom insisted we take a photo with the Idaho Commission on Hispanic Affairs staff, and JJ told me he hoped the commission could one day hold summits in other parts of the state so students like me wouldn't have to commute so far to learn about college.

He fulfilled this mission. At the end of September last year, days before his unexpected deathHe was at the University of Idaho in Moscow and hosted one of several summits.

From the day I met him, JJ became someone who supported me as I started college and advocated for me as I began my journalism career. In the spring of 2022, just before I graduated from college, I applied for an internship at Voces internship in Idaho – a nonprofit organization that offers paid internships to young Latinos from Idaho interested in journalism.

JJ, who was on the Voces Internship Advisory Council, was one of the people who interviewed me over Zoom. Recognizing him made me feel less intimidated and confident again when I applied for the internship I was so desperate to get. I knew I wanted to be a journalist, but I had no qualifications other than the fact that I loved writing. JJ had seen the potential in me before and maybe he would see it again, I thought.

Later that month, I got a call that I would be one of the first interns for the Voces Internship of Idaho. I was placed as an intern at the Idaho Capital Sun, where I would return to work less than a year later as a full-time reporter covering state politics.