My Story
I was born and raised in Commerce City, Colorado, in the shadow of the Suncor facility that has been poisoning the air my entire life. For generations, that plant has treated my community, a working class Latino neighborhood, as disposable. I remember receiving letters notifying us we consumed cyanide in our water from plant leaks. I remember having lock-ins at my middle school because massive yellow clouds of deadly sulfur-cyanide that were caused by plant failures drifted over my school. Growing up next to it didn’t just teach me about pollution; it taught me about power; who has it, who pays for it, and who gets written off as collateral damage.
That’s where my fire for racial and environmental justice began. I learned early that the people closest to the pain are the ones closest to the solution, and that no one was coming to save us unless we built something ourselves.
At the University of Colorado Boulder, I earned my BA majoring in Marketing and in Sustainable Business, along with a minor in Philosophy and a certificate in Social Responsibility and Ethics. I wanted to understand both systems and values that determine how economies are built, and how they can be rebuilt around human dignity. I will soon be pursuing an MBA to strengthen the strategic tools I need to lead nonprofits that don’t just survive, but shape the world around them.
Over the years I’ve founded, led, and designed projects that fuse creativity with action. Through Climatique, I helped transform climate activism into a community of care one where art, food, and collective imagination became tools for liberation. With the Sunrise Movement, I fought for a livable planet and a political movement that refuses to accept incrementalism in the face of catastrophe. And through High Council, I explored how storytelling and design can move people toward solidarity.
Everything I do starts with the same question: How do we make power TRUELY democratic? I believe change doesn’t come from institutions handing down favors, it comes from ordinary people organizing, creating, and daring to imagine something better.
Now, as I start a new chapter in Minnesota, I’m bringing that same purpose forward to help build organizations that marry structure with soul, and to prove that creativity, justice, and discipline can exist on the same side of history.
My Beliefs
- I believe capitalism was once a transformative force in human history. It broke the hierarchies of feudalism and unleashed new forms of production and creativity. But its usefulness has passed. The same system that once created growth now concentrates wealth, corrodes democracy, and treats both people and the planet as expendable.
- I believe the future must move toward democratic control of the economy. Essential industries such as housing, water, and energy should exist to serve human need, not private profit. Worker cooperatives, community ownership, and strong public institutions can help transition us toward that goal.
- I believe reform and revolution are not opposites but stages of the same process. Major change rarely arrives all at once. We build it step by step through policy, organizing, and culture. Reforms can ease suffering and shift power, creating the foundation for deeper transformation in generations to come.
- I believe that economic structure shapes how people think and live. Systems teach behavior. Capitalism rewards competition and isolation, while socialism can teach cooperation, care, and responsibility. Over time, shared experience in collective systems will change how we see ourselves and one another.
- I believe climate justice is not only an environmental issue but a moral and economic one. The destruction of the planet is inseparable from the economic system that demands endless growth. True sustainability requires changing how we produce, distribute, and consume.
- I believe technology is neither good nor evil. Every tool reflects the values of the society that wields it. Used collectively and responsibly, it can expand human freedom and knowledge. I support progress through technology alongside strong public oversight and regulation.
- I believe human beings are born neutral. Our nature is shaped by the world around us. What defines us is not greed or generosity but our capacity for reason, empathy, and collaboration. Those traits, when nurtured, are what make human civilization possible.
- I believe art is one of humanity’s most powerful tools for connection and reflection. It is not separate from politics or community. Art helps people feel what data and arguments cannot, and in doing so, it reminds us what we are fighting for.
- I believe in democracy that is both political and economic. True democracy means more than voting every few years. It means that ordinary people have real control over the institutions that shape their lives.
My Values
Empathy: Recognizing our shared humanity as the foundation of justice.
Discipline: Staying committed to the slow, difficult work of building a better system.
Creativity: Using imagination as a force for innovation and liberation.
Solidarity: Knowing that freedom and progress can only be achieved together.
The Philosophies I Follow
Marxism: I believe history is shaped by the struggle between classes and by the systems that govern production. Real and universal freedom comes only when the economy serves human need instead of profit.
Existentialism and Absurdism: Life has no fixed meaning, but that gives us responsibility and power. We create purpose through our choices, our communities, and our commitment to one another.
Humanism and Atheism: I do not look to faith or mysticism for meaning. Humanity creates meaning through thought, cooperation, and compassion.