Raquel Toledo
All of you is beautiful: True love (Toda tú eres bella: El verdadero amor) - Advocacy Campaign
2025-26: The “All of you is beautiful: True love (Toda tú eres bella: El verdadero amor) - Advocacy Campaign” is a faith-based initiative aimed at combatting Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) among Spanish-speaking Latinas in Chicago, Houston, and San Juan, Puerto Rico. The campaign is founded on the core principles of restoring hearts, transforming minds, and empowering lives, utilizing the affirming biblical message from Song of Solomon 4:7 to help survivors rebuild their self-worth. The strategy combines awareness initiatives, educational workshops, and the development of local support groups. Key activities include strategic partnerships with local pastors and community leaders, organizing testimonial events to dismantle the silence surrounding abuse, and disseminating crucial resources. The comprehensive approach is designed to foster essential dialogue, promote healthy relationships, and create safe spaces, ultimately working toward the vision of significantly reducing the incidence of IPV within the target communities. The campaign’s ultimate goal is to ensure every participant recognizes their inherent beauty and worth loved by our heavenly Father, enabling them to live free from violence and fear.
Cultivating "Authentic Voice”: A Cross-City Inquiry into the A.M.A.R. (to love) Mentorship Model for Latina Ministry Leaders
2026: The goal of this project is to establish a structured, culturally-attuned mentorship ecosystem that empowers 20-25 Latina leaders to reclaim their “Authentic Voice.” The central question of this project is: “How can a structured, culturally-attuned mentorship model like A.M.A.R. empower Latina leaders to move from a mindset of scarcity to an abundance of ‘Authentic Voice’ within the urban ministry context?” The project is structured as a 12-month immersion, viewing leadership not as a destination, but as a continuous cycle of empowerment that transforms the facilitator, the mentor, and the student. Participants will move through the four pillars of our methodology, with each quarter dedicated to one specific competency: Holistic Affirmation (A): Validating the ontological design of God within the leader through a “Strengths Audit” rather than superficial praise. Authenticity Modeling (M): Cultivating “Directed Transparency"—a voice that flows from identity as a daughter of God rather than being overbearing or complaining. Dual-Presence Accompaniment (A): Emotional and spiritual support during both the Kairos (victory) and the Desert (crisis), requiring a mentor’s resilience to remain present. Christ-Centered Reaffirmation ®: Using the Word of God as a mirror of identity rather than a hammer of judgment to empower personal calling. Ministry sustainability in the city depends on leaders who lead from this place of redeemed identity. By processing these competencies, we create a vital "Safe Environment” (ESPE) where the “Facilitator” manages the process while the “Mentor” nurtures the soul.
Raquel Toledo is an academic advisor at Fuller Theological Seminary, where she serves as the coordinator and mentor for the Centro Latino’s Diploma of Integral Leadership of Latina Women. A dedicated educator with over 25 years of local church leadership, she has authored “DIGNA: Cómo vestirte de fuerza, honor, y paz” (2021) and frequently speaks throughout the United States and Latin America.
An innovator in theological education, Raquel has developed two successful certifications: the Women’s Ministry Leadership certification for the Hispanic Bible School in Chicago (2017) and the Advanced Diploma in Integral Leadership of Latina Women for the Fuller Latino Center (2023). Currently, she is finalizing her Doctor of Ministry (DMin) program at Fuller Theological Seminary, with an expected completion date of April 2026. Her career remains focused on equipping Latina women with the theological and practical tools for effective ministerial leadership.
Congregations and Communities grants provide support for urban pastors, churches, faith-based community organizations, and theological institutions to share resources, ideas, and practices for life-giving ministry in cities across North America. Typically, we invite those who have not previously had access to resources or grant funding.
The Strengthening Pastoral Formation for Ministry in the City initiative involves seminaries, theological institutions, and churches and intends to help communities and institutions explore and assess their own urban context and church life; gain clarity about their mission and programmatic offerings; and strengthen and support the design and implementation of plans to address key challenges and opportunities for pastoral formation and flourishing congregations in urban settings.
