Marcos Sanchez – Candidate for Regional Advocate 2024

Note: This is a candidate page for a Judge Foundry Election. Information on this page is provided by the candidate, and does not represent the opinions or positions of the Elections Committee or of Judge Foundry. For more information about this election, see the schedule and index for the 2024 Regional Advocate Election.

Nomination Statement

I’m Marcos Sanchez, and I have been a judge for 9 years as of this application. I have focused on mentorship and developing the regions in which I’m in. I’ve served as an Area Captain for Northern Indiana in the Great Lakes Region of the Historical Judge program and as an L2 Tester in the Historical Judge program. I believe the RA role is going to be vital to be able to ensure that local communities of judges can form, or perhaps reconvene after a long absence, particularly for the Southeast. The Southeast region has historically had one of the strongest identities in any program, and yet over the years a lot of the figureheads of that identity and community have either taken a step back, left the region, or retired from judging altogether. I think this is a great time to be able to refocus the identity of the Southeast region to incorporate every state and commonwealth within.

I also feel that my historical background focusing on customer service and public-facing career experience will help make the voice of the Southeast more effective and able to be heard by the rest of the regions and the board of Judge Foundry. I would approach this role with the intent to keep the Southeast region at the forefront of regions in Judge Foundry, as innovators, as a place that produces incredibly talented judges, and a region that exemplifies all the things we love about the Judge program, and the Judging community.

At the end of your first six months as Regional Advocate, what does “success” look like?

I would like to see more community engagement from the Southeast region, both in sharing information and discussions, and expanding our communication networks to be more accessible to everyone who wants to be a part of the community. I would also like to formalize a network of ACs to help bring in more L1s and L1 Candidates into the overall judging community, as focusing primarily on L2+ can be very exclusive to others attempting to enter this community for the first time.

What skills/experience do you bring to the role of Regional Advocate?

I have served as an Area Captain for the Great Lakes region for almost 2 years, I have certifications for peer mediation and leadership, and have a strong focus on customer service and networking. I’m effectively able to identify root problems and help connect those with a problem to a resource to help them achieve a solution. I also greatly enjoy connecting with people in the region and backing them up in their endeavors overall. I am also bilingual, speaking fluent English and Spanish, which will be beneficial to be more inclusive with all the areas in our region.

Describe your plans to recruit and utilize Area Communicators.

For me, ACs will have to serve an area where they are comfortable knowing more local resources for potential candidates, including connecting with L1 candidates at their local game stores or working with me to create outreach opportunities in different areas. There’s nothing more helpful or inspiring for inviting players to join the judging community than to see a friendly face and a physical presence in their stores from time to time, and have that person be able to reach out and join the overall community. I would also rely on the network of ACs to be my eyes and ears as to how local communities are feeling about the work that JF is doing, and find ways to collect their thoughts and feelings about how to improve upon the vision for the Judge Foundry program.

What do you feel the Southeast is currently doing better than other regions, and what do you think you can learn or adopt from other regions?

I think the southeast has a certain historical bond that is still strong from the past, and I feel like there’s a lot of room to expand that regionally. The reputation of “Florida Judges” is a mentality that came from the mindset of cultivating and improving the skills of judges in your community. I think that mentality is important for any region to ensure judges are up to par with JF expectations, and to ensure the next generation of judges can be prepared to take over down the line.

I’ve been lucky to be a part of multiple regions, and I think the sharing of ideas between regions is very important. Communication is my first priority, and there are some more community focused initiatives that I think we could potentially adopt in certain underserved areas. My main thought here is that regions shouldn’t be isolated or exclusionary – we should be sharing ideas  with each other, and each region should have their place among the larger community of judges. 

Describe the general areas of the Southeast region. As RA, do any areas need specific types of assistance? How do you plan to bring these areas together to foster an overall regional identity?

My biggest concern at the moment is making sure this newly structured region all feel welcome and present when making decisions for the region as a whole. Puerto Rico is in a uniquely detached location from the region, and I want to ensure everyone there feels as welcome and connected to the rest of the region as they want to be. I also want to ensure that Florida doesn’t take over the identity of the southeast, and that our network of ACs stays largely representative of every area in the region. Georgia and Florida have strong identities, and because of their location, I want to see them be the primary hosts for physical get togethers whenever possible. Beyond that, I envision a SouthEast council of our ACs and the RA that will be able to cooperatively establish what our identity is, and ensure that local issues are heard by the region, regardless of where we are located. Everyone will be an equal party to the region’s growth and identity. 

For the Southeast, a total of 3 people applied for the position of RA. Do you have any plans to harness their enthusiasm, if you are elected?

Absolutely. They would be the first ones I contact to be the AC for their respective areas, as they have demonstrated a willingness to put themselves in a position to speak up for their communities and region. However, I also don’t want that to be at the exclusion of anyone else. I live by the mentality that the best idea wins, doesn’t matter whether it’s from the established L3-L5s in the region, or an L1 who’s only been certified a week, or a judge candidate trying to join our community. If it’s the right thing to do, then that’s what we’re going to do. 

I would also hope that their enthusiasm continues past the elections, to make sure that our region and areas buy into this new regional structure and begin to truly engage with it. That engagement is a vital component to making things work long term for our region, and championing the regional structure to everyone in the area can only help make sure everyone has a voice.