Leadership experience develops through diverse roles and responsibilities, not just job titles. This article explores how volunteer coaching, budgeting, planning, and communication skills form the foundation for effective leadership in any organization.
Influential Woman · Local government
Brenda Rodriguez
Community Services Director
Cudahy, CA
10Years experience
1Article published
Her Story
About Brenda
Brenda Rodriguez is a dedicated public servant and the Community Services Director for the City of Cudahy, California, a position she has held for the past four years. With more than a decade of experience in local government, she has built her career through a deep commitment to community engagement and public service. Her journey began as a volunteer soccer coach and later as a parks and recreation commissioner before transitioning into municipal leadership, including serving as an Administrative Analyst in the City Manager’s Office.
In her current role, Rodriguez oversees the City’s Community Services Department, with a primary focus on parks and recreation programs that enhance quality of life for residents of all ages. She leads the planning and implementation of youth activities, senior programs, and community events while cultivating strategic partnerships that support the department’s long-term sustainability and self-sufficiency. Her leadership is centered on creating inclusive, accessible opportunities that strengthen community connections and civic engagement.
Born and raised in Cudahy, Rodriguez brings a personal passion for serving the community she calls home. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Business Management from California State University, Long Beach, and a Master of Public Administration from the University of Southern California in 2021. A Certified Parks and Recreation Professional through the National Recreation and Park Association, she is also an active member of ICMA and several parks and recreation organizations. Rodriguez attributes her success to strong mentorship, a genuine desire to give back, and an unwavering commitment to honesty, integrity, and public service.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Brenda
01What do you attribute your success to?
The passion for the community. Serving a community that I grew up in is different. It reminds me there's more to give to the community, and that you're taking steps every day towards that ultimate goal of making a difference.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
We’re always thinking about how we can better ourselves and how we can move forward in our careers, but I think it’s equally important to ask: Who are we bringing with us? How are we mentoring others to eventually take our place? How are we developing our teams?
I truly believe that as leaders, we’re only as strong as the teams around us. One person can only accomplish so much. Sharing our knowledge, creating opportunities for others, and helping people develop their own leadership skills allows our impact to extend beyond what we can do individually.
To me, part of being a successful leader is not just asking, ‘What’s next for me?’ but also, ‘Who am I preparing to be next?’
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
One piece of advice I would give women in my field is not to wait until you feel completely ready for the next opportunity. I think sometimes we look at a position and focus on the experience we don’t have instead of recognizing everything we’ve already learned. Some of the skills that prepared me most for leadership didn’t come from a management position, they came from volunteering, coaching, working directly with the community, and taking on responsibilities wherever I could.
You don’t have to know everything before you take the next step. You need to know what you bring to the table, be willing to ask questions, and be willing to keep learning. Sometimes you grow into an opportunity by being brave enough to take it
04What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
The values that are most important to me are integrity, empathy, service, and growth. I try to be the same person whether I’m at work or in my personal life. Integrity means doing what I say I’m going to do and making the right decision even when it isn’t necessarily the easiest one.
Empathy is also really important to me. Whether I’m working with an employee, serving someone in the community, or interacting with the people in my personal life, I try to remember that everyone is coming from a different place and carrying experiences I may not know about. You can hold people accountable while still treating them with compassion and respect.
I also really value service. I believe that if you’re in a position where you can help someone, develop someone, or make something better, you should. And finally, I value growth. I never want to get to a point where I think I know everything. I want to continue learning from the people around me, including the people I lead.
At the end of the day, I want people to remember not just what I accomplished, but how I treated them and whether I left things a little better than I found them
Her Content Hub
Articles by Brenda
Your Current Role Is Preparing You for Your Next One
How valuable experiences shaped my leadership journey before I ever held the title.
Experience Doesn't Always Come With a Title
Early in my career, I sometimes wondered whether I had enough experience to be in the rooms I was entering. I was young, taking on increasing levels of responsibility, and often working alongside people who had been in their professions much longer than I had.
Over time, I realized I was asking myself the wrong question.
Experience is not measured only by the number of years you have worked or the titles you have held. Some of the most valuable leadership experience I gained happened long before I became a director. In fact, when I think about the skills I use most often today, many of them were developed while I was a volunteer youth sports coach.
At the time, I certainly wasn't thinking, "This is preparing me to become a director." I was thinking about getting kids to practice, making sure we had equipment, communicating with parents, preparing for games, and creating an environment where every player felt like they belonged.
Looking back, I was learning leadership.
Budgeting Is Really About Priorities
A youth sports team rarely has unlimited resources. There are uniforms, equipment, tournament fees, supplies, and countless unexpected needs.
I learned quickly that budgeting wasn't simply about how much money we had. It was about deciding what mattered most.
What did the team truly need? Where could we stretch our resources? What could wait? How could we give our players the best possible experience with what we had available?
Those are the same questions leaders ask when managing organizational budgets today—just with more zeroes attached.
Planning Means Preparing and Then Adapting
Anyone who has coached youth sports knows that even the best plan rarely survives exactly as written.
A player doesn't show up. The field changes. Equipment is missing. Someone gets hurt. The weather doesn't cooperate.
You still have a game to play.
Coaching taught me to plan carefully without becoming so attached to a plan that I couldn't adjust when circumstances changed. That lesson has followed me throughout my career.
Leadership requires preparation, but it also requires adaptability. Sometimes the most important skill in the room is being able to say, "This isn't working. What can we do instead?"
Communication Is Not One-Size-Fits-All
As a coach, I had to communicate with players, parents, other coaches, officials, and volunteers. Each required something different from me.
One player might respond to direct instruction. Another might need encouragement. A parent might need additional context. A disagreement with another coach might require me to listen before responding.
I began learning that communication isn't simply about delivering information. It is about understanding your audience, listening, building trust, and making sure people understand not only what needs to happen, but why.
Years later, those same skills are essential when communicating with employees, residents, community partners, elected officials, and colleagues.
The audience changed. The fundamental skill did not.
Leadership Isn't Doing Everything Yourself
Perhaps one of the greatest lessons coaching taught me was that individual talent only gets a team so far.
You can have incredibly talented players and still lose if they don't communicate, trust one another, and understand their roles.
Organizations aren't very different.
Being a leader doesn't mean being the person who has every answer or does everything herself. It means recognizing people's strengths, giving them opportunities to contribute, establishing expectations, and creating an environment where everyone understands how their work contributes to something larger.
It also means taking responsibility when things don't go according to plan.
A coach can't celebrate with the team when they win and blame the players when they lose. Leadership requires accountability in both moments.
Don't Discount the Experience You're Gaining Right Now
I think this lesson is especially important for young professionals.
We sometimes look at job descriptions and focus on what we haven't done yet. We see requirements like "budget management," "project coordination," "stakeholder engagement," "team leadership," or "conflict resolution" and assume those skills only count if we developed them while holding a particular title.
But experience doesn't work that way.
Maybe you managed the budget for a volunteer organization. Maybe you coordinated schedules for a community event. Maybe your first customer-service job taught you how to de-escalate difficult situations. Maybe coaching taught you how to motivate people. Maybe a part-time position taught you how an organization actually functions on the front line.
Those experiences count.
The important question is not simply, "What was my title?"
Ask yourself: What responsibility was I trusted with? What problem did I solve? What did I learn? And how can I apply that lesson somewhere else?
I still have plenty to learn. I hope I always will.
But one of the advantages of becoming a leader relatively young has been recognizing that learning doesn't begin when someone gives you a leadership title. Every position, volunteer opportunity, difficult conversation, successful project, mistake, and unexpected challenge can teach you something that you will carry into the next room.
I didn't become a leader the day I became a director.
I had been practicing leadership for years.
I just didn't know what to call it yet.
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