Health equity, vaccines, food insecurity among goals for Cape's human rights coordinator

BARNSTABLE — Whether it's in a remote mountain village in the Dominican Republic or a Latinx neighborhood in Chelsea or the communities of Cape Cod, Leslie Dominguez-Santos said you can always find people dedicated to human rights.

"People around the world fight really hard for human rights," said Dominguez-Santos, human rights coordinator for the Barnstable County Human Rights Advisory Commission. "And we have those kinds of people right here on the Cape."

Since being hired as the commission's human rights coordinator in September, Dominguez-Santos said she's looking forward to working along with the commission to execute the many initiatives and events the group does throughout the year.

"For starters, it's amazing that Barnstable County has this human rights coordinator position," she said. "That’s extraordinary in itself and says a lot about this county — that they prioritize human rights and watch out to protect the rights for everyone."

Before Dominguez-Santos was hired, the coordinator position was dormant for about eight months as the commission and commission staff regained their footing after the death of Susan Quinones, the former coordinator. Quinones died in April, after being diagnosed with terminal cancer in January.

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"My predecessor Susan Quinones left really big shoes to fill," said Dominguez-Santos. "But she helped create an amazing group of people who are clearly passionate, and enthusiastically dedicated to human rights."

Wendy Bierwirth, chair of the commission, said Quinones would have approved of Dominguez-Santos being hired, and pleased with the work the commission continued in her absence.

"The commission felt an obligation to Susan to keep things going," Bierwirth said. "All of our committees went out on their own and did a really good job. But we didn’t have that good, central core. Leslie is now that central core."

What is human rights coordinator's job?

Because Dominguez-Santos arrived on Cape Cod from Chicago about 17 years ago, she said she's familiar with the needs of the Cape community and excited about the group's many signature events and human-rights-centered programming including the Human Rights Annual Breakfast, held in December; and the Human Rights Academy, held twice a year.

The academy, which will attract roughly 100 students from about 11 Cape schools, will be held Tuesday, Oct. 25, at Cape Cod Academy and is Dominguez-Santos' first major event.

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The event, titled "Pathways to Peace," is a joint presentation with Cape Mediation’s Youth Conflict Resolution Program and Nauset Regional High School's Exploring and Respecting Differences program.

After convening in October, students will gather again in the spring to learn about human rights on the Cape, what protections exist and how middle and high school students can protect their peers and others living throughout the region, said Dominguez-Santos.

"In my first three weeks on the job, I'm already seeing amazing efforts happening on Cape Cod," she said. "All 15 communities are doing great things. I just want to help share out all of these things that are happening so we can learn and share together."

Also on her agenda is creating and continuing programming that can be geared towards health equity, vaccine access, food access and food insecurity, said Dominguez-Santos.

"There are probably already efforts on the Cape working on these different aspects, so a lot of my work will be to bring people together and cross-pollinate ideas," she said.

Because there are two human rights commissioner seats currently open, Dominguez-Santos is also focused on filling those vacancies.

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"Bringing more commissioners on only expands what we are able to do," she said. "Whoever would like to be involved and engaged — I would love to talk to them."

Why Human Rights Advisory Commission chose Dominguez-Santos

During the hiring process, Bierwirth said the commission received applications from all over the world for the position. And while there were many great candidates, Bierwirth said her immediate reaction after interviewing Dominguez-Santos was to hire her.

"Her set of skills are exactly what we need and we are finding that she has a good sense of where she wants the commission to go," she said. "And how she wants it to grow."

It was Dominguez-Santos' work at GreenRoots, Inc. that really caught her eye, said Bierwirth.

"I think she really grasped the importance of social justice and that’s very much what we need here on Cape Cod in terms of affordable housing and health equity issues," she said.

GreenRoots is a community-based organization that works to improve and enhance the urban environment and public health in Chelsea and surrounding communities, according to the website.

The fact that Dominguez-Santos is local to Cape Cod also pointed to her ability to understand the local community. Dominguez-Santos, Bierwirth said, felt the equity issues on the Cape are greatly underestimated by many simply because the Cape has a profile of being a wealthy retirement community.

"She will be able to strengthen that educational aspect and create a greater awareness of what the Cape needs in terms of equity," Bierwirth said.

New coordinator brings diverse cultural experience

Dominguez-Santos first found a passion for human rights during her time with the Peace Corps in 1996.

As a volunteer, she supported 43 rural women’s associations in community projects and micro-businesses and conducted sustainable agriculture and public health seminars, in addition to teaching English classes.

Within the associations the women hosted community cleanups, planned events at local schools, raised funds and obtained micro-loans to plant fruit trees and buy egg-laying chickens — all to make their community stronger, said Dominguez-Santos.

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"I had a little put-put motorcycle and I traveled to all these different communities where these women's groups were making a difference," she said. "Their work was striking to me."

While seeds of advocacy work were planted within her mind during her time in the Peace Corps, and throughout her career in activism, her passion for human rights work bloomed when she became an organizational advisor for GreenRoots, Inc., in 2018.

During her time at the nonprofit organization, Dominguez-Santos said she not only grew the budget from $680,000 to $2.3 million, she increased staffing from 11 people to 31 and helped plan, budget and manage the organization during the COVID-19 pandemic as part of a leadership team. That effort resulted in "COVID-19 in Chelsea: A Glance Into One of the Hardest Hit Cities and the Role of Intersecting Social Determinants of Health," a report she co-authored.

With her experiences with different cultures and diverse communities, Dominguez-Santos can jump into work at the commission, even with significant programming just ahead, Bierwirth said.

"She’s coming in right at a point where we are at the 11th hour for the Human Rights Academy and she's really in the thick of it," she said.

As the daughter of a Cuban-born refugee father, Dominguez-Santos said advocacy work throughout her lifetime enabled her to help a spectrum of ethnicities and cultures.

"Being immersed in this work for so many years, cemented my belief that everyone has the right to enjoy life and to make the best of themselves," she said.

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This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Barnstable County gets new human rights coordinator