This past December marked Voces Verdes’ five-year anniversary and we could not be more thankful to all of our Partner Organizations and VV Leaders who have represented Latino communities across the nation in business, health, education, advocacy, and the non-profit sector. We would not exist without your willingness to be our #VocesinActionon environmental policy development and community protections! Please be sure to check out our proudest accomplishments from 2014—these milestones are helpful in motivating us to continue building out the VV legacy juntos, particularly as we ready ourselves for a challenging year ahead.
With only one month of the New Year underway, VV Leaders and supporters have already been unidos in demonstrating “leadership in action” across the nation. We have had the privilege of hosting two successful gatherings with a diverse representation. The first, a post State of the Union Twitter Town Hall with a multitude of #Voces4Climate dissecting and discussing our President’s comments on the environment, renewable energy, and the reduction of carbon emissions. The second was a Rallying Conference Call full of leaders who expressed their willingness to make evident the intersection of environmental issues with the myriad of other Latino issues, such as education, voter awareness, business, and health. We were fortunate to be joined by two of our líderes más fuertes, Adrianna Quintero (VV Founder/Director; NRDC Senior Attorney) and Maria Cardona (VV Board Member; Principal at Dewey Square Group; Founder of Latinovations) who reiterated the purpose and duty of VV: to showcase our Latino leadership, emphasize Latino communities as major and influential stakeholders in the environmental movement, to support the passage of strong carbon standards, and to highlight our connection to Latin American countries and the impact our voces have internationally.
For me, being a part of this work has been such an honor. As a Latina millennial raised in the heart of California’s Central Valley (Modesto), I was hard-pressed to find many role models who mirrored my story, reflected my goals, and could guide me towards a meaningful path of powerful leadership. Because of this, I am elated to have been recently welcomed onto the VV team as the new Project Coordinator! In the short month that I have been on board, I have already been so inspired. It has been extremely encouraging and motivating to be among such amazing compañeros, socios, and voces fuertes—y verdes—who are all fighting NOW for clean energy, clean air, and clean water for our comunidades! I would like to thank a few mujeres in particular: to Adrianna for trailblazing this path—you are responsible for carving out the space that I now am able to occupy; to Maria for her tireless advocacy—your passion is both humbling and infectious; and a special shout out to Nicole Hernandez Hammer—your mere presence with the First Family during the State of the Union allowed me (and so many other mujeres) to believe that our communities and concerns WILL be reflected in politics at the national level. That was a victory for all of us. Muchisimas gracias for all of your efforts in partnering with VV, we are so grateful to count you among our ranks!
A Latina Climate scientist, mother, immigrant, friend in the #FLOTUS box sent message how important they consider this issue #Voces4Climate
— GreenLatinos (@GreenLatino) January 22, 2015
With that said, I’ll leave you with Nicole’s unequivocal call to action:
“The debate is settled, our climate is changing, our seas are rising. Now is the time for action. I worked to confirm that the climate is changing and now I am working on behalf of my son for action—we need to fight climate change today.”
Ready to accept that call to action and add your voz to this onda verde? We invite you to stay connected to the Voces Verdes community online on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube. You can also sign up for our newsletter here, and keep your eyes peeled for a new LinkedIn group (coming soon) to connect all our voces verdes across varying professions and state lines.
Analisa Freitas was born in Lima, Peru and grew up in California’s Central Valley. Environmental extremes are a part of her history, so when she completed her studies from Sarah Lawrence College and Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Peru, she was naturally drawn back to California, organizing to transform Latino community concerns into environmental development and activism. Now, with Voces Verdes, she advocates for inclusive environmental policies, renewable energy, and climate change solutions from the Latino perspective.
This piece originally appeared in the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) Staff blog, Switchboard.
Recent Comments