PARTICIP8 INTERNET CAMPAIGN
ABOUT
MISSION STATEMENT
PIC provides communities with needed programs, events, resources and educational services to foster a more unified and productive society.
VISION STATEMENT
To educate, inspire and organize young people within their communities to work with one another so that we may become more informed, educated and involved in our communities.
Ronald Patton, MBA
Writer/Producer/Director
Raised in Compton, California Ronald witnessed the grit of urban life at a young age. Those early experiences ultimately led him to become a product of the California Youth Authority and the Heman G. Stark Youth Training School, a correctional institution for juvenile offenders in Chino, CA. Although he was incarcerated, his mind wasn't and Ronald read everything from law books to Sidney Sheldon novels which helped to shape his perception of the world.
While there, Ronald was among only 2% of the entire California Youth Authority population to enter into the college program where he majored in psychology. He began to analyze thought and behavior patterns, which caused him to change his own. After being released from the institution, he continued his education and wanted give back what he had unconsciously taken from the community and became a noted film editor, photographer and highly recognized community activist at the federal, state and local level by creating numerous community-based programs and events.
In turning his life around, he has personally and positively impacted the lives of several thousand youths in Southern California. Ronald created PARTICIP8 (pronounced Participate), a program dedicated to teaching high school students how to create professional video projects (which includes, but not limited to; writing, acting, directing, producing, cinematography and editing). In addition to his master's degree in business, Ronald has also created a financial literacy program that teaches inner city youths (and adults) life skills based around time and money management.
As Chairman of the Teamsters National Black Caucus (TNBC) Career Day Committee, Ronald provides young people with information regarding the various careers that are available after high school. From working for companies such as Toyota, to working for governmental agencies, to jobs in the movie industry, Ronald is committed to working with youth so that we all may have a better future. As a writer, director and cinematography creative, Ronald draws from his own life experience to tell exciting and interesting stories in his own unique voice.
Eric Tate
Teamsters, Secretary-Treasurer, Local 848
Eric Tate's motto is: Honesty, integrity, education, and hard work leads to success and his bio depicts that he lives by his motto.
His career as a Teamster began in 1992 when he was hired by Laidlaw Transit as a bus
driver. After a year as a driver, he gained the trust of his co-workers, and they elected him Shop Steward. After two more years of driving his daily bus route and volunteering as Shop Steward, Eric was named Shop Steward of the Year for Teamsters Local 848.
Eric became a Business Representative and Political Coordinator for Teamster Local 848 in the year 2000. As Business Representative, Eric Tate has increased the wages for Union’s bus drivers from the $8 per hour he earned as a bus driver to today's top contract rate of more than $35 per hour and increased the number of bus drivers within Local 848 from 350 drivers to more than 2000 today. The contracts he has negotiated with the bus companies have not only increased income, but now pays 100% of the drivers' medical premiums for them and their families and as-much-as $5 per hour towards the Teamsters Pension Plan.
As a Political Coordinator he spearheaded Senate Bill 158 with the help of the Teamster’s state lobbyist, which protects privatized bus driver’s jobs when new bus company’s take over the service within any city in the state of California. Today that bill is known as Labor Code 1070 – 1074. All this was accomplished while Eric was attending night school. He graduated Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Science Degree and is a member of The International Honor Society in Business Management and Administration (Sigma Beta Delta).
In October 2009 Eric Tate became Secretary-Treasurer of Teamsters Local 848. He is the
first African American in the Western half of the United States to attain this goal. The
members of Teamsters Local 848 have shown their confidence in Eric by electing him and re-electing him to office five time three times via white ballot. In 2022 Eric Tate became the first African American to be appointed as a Trustee on the Joint Council 42 Executive Board. Eric has been married for more than 30 years and has two adult children. His daughter who is a member of Teamsters Local 848 working at Sealogix and his son who is a special needs adult that has over come life threatening health, mental and physical challenges.