Marce Gutiérrez-Graudiņš (she/her)
Marce used to sell fish, now she saves them. An environmental justice advocate who began her career in the commercial fishing and aquaculture fields, Marce is the Founder and Executive Director of Azul, which works with Latinxs to protect coasts and oceans. Through her work, she has helped design and implement a statewide network of marine protected areas as well as a sustainability and marketing program for local California fisheries. As a leader in the campaign to ban single-use plastic bags in California, she has worked to reduce marine pollution and protect ocean wildlife. Recently, she participated in the first Congressional roundtable on Environmental Justice on Capitol Hill, and was the principal author of a white paper on Latino Environmental Leadership lauded as “a blueprint for diversity in the Environmental Movement” by Representative Raul Grijalva, the ranking member of the House Committee of the Natural Resources.
Marce is a founding member of the Latino Conservation Alliance, a proud graduate of the HOPE’s (Hispanas Organized for Political Equality) Leadership institute 2013 class, and currently serves as a mentor for the RAY Marine Conservation Diversity Fellowship as well as the advisory board for the Ocean Foundation. She has been a speaker at Stanford University, UCSB, UC Davis, The Explorers Club and the UN in Geneva. She has been recognized as an “inspiring Latina working for a cause” by Latina magazine (2014) and as a Aspen Environment Forum Scholar by the Aspen Institute (2012). A native of Tijuana, Mexico, Marce now makes San Diego home.