From 9-Year-Old Immigrant to City Council Candidate: Elmer Roldan’s L.A. Story

This week, we catch up with Elmer Roldan. After surviving a harrowing journey from Guatemala as a child and overcoming the challenges of generational poverty in Los Angeles, Elmer Roldan has dedicated his life to transforming his community. As the Executive Director of Communities In Schools of Los Angeles, he now works to prevent student pushout by connecting high-needs youth with the mentorship and resources they need to thrive. In this episode, Elmer shares how his lived experience fuels his current run for L.A. City Council District 9, where he aims to build a more equitable future for the neighborhood that shaped him. Tamarindo is a lighthearted show hosted by Brenda Gonzalez and Delsy Sandoval talking about politics, culture, and self-development. We’re here to uplift our community through powerful conversations with changemakers, creatives, and healers. Join us as we delve into discussions on race, gender, representation, and life! You can get in touch with us at Brenda Gonzalez and Delsy Sandoval are executive producers of Tamarindo podcast with production support by Karina Riveroll of Sonoro Media. Jeff Ricards produced our theme song. If you want to support our work, please rate and review our show here. SUPPORT OUR SHOW Contribute to the show: Follow Tamarindo on instagram @tamarindopodcast and on YouTube: Tamarindo podcast is a Latina-hosted podcast that discuses Latine culture, politics, and personal-development. It is hosted by Brenda Gonzalez and Delsy Sandoval who are both based in Los Angeles. At the intersection of advocacy and self-care, we discuss culture from a progressive Latina lens including political issues, mental health and well-being, and personal development. Our guests are changemakers advancing justice, culture-makers breaking barriers, or healers including therapists and health practitioners promoting the wellbeing of Latinos.

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From 9-Year-Old Immigrant to City Council Candidate: Elmer Roldan’s L.A. Story is an episode from Tamarindo by Tamarindo | Sonoro.

This episode is 00:22:43 long.

This episode was published on Mar 17, 2026.

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