Azul’s Rising Leaders Initiative Launches to Foster Latinx Grassroots Leadership in Ocean Conservation
Online: Español
For Immediate Release
March 16, 2023
Media Contacts: Betsy López-Wagner, López-Wagner Strategies, media@azul.org
Maeve Stewart, López-Wagner Strategies, media@azul.org
Azul’s Rising Leaders Initiative Launches to Foster Latinx Grassroots Leadership in Ocean Conservation
The California-based grassroots environmental justice organization’s leadership program aims to bring more Latinx community activists into ocean conservation to grow a more inclusive ocean justice movement.
San Francisco, CA (March 16, 2023) – Azul is building on 12 years of grassroots environmental justice organizing and policy successes as it launches the #LatinosMarinos Rising Leaders Initiative, a leadership program. Since its inception in 2011, Azul has mobilized community activists, Latinx leaders, and ocean justice advocates to build a strong community of #LatinosMarinos along the California coast, across the United States, and through organic international outreach.
Drawing from Azul’s rich history of fusing Latinx conservation traditions and environmental justice values, the program promises to redefine who is an ocean leader. Inspired by the success of the #LatinosMarinos caucus in California, the Rising Leaders Initiative, a six-month leadership program cycle, will gather its first cohort of 15 participants this April.
“Now is the time to build a new generation of leaders who can celebrate their cultural heritage while creating ocean solutions that benefit their communities directly,” said Marce Gutiérrez-Graudiņš, Azul’s founder and Executive Director. “#LatinosMarinos Rising Leaders Initiative is the type of opportunity I would have embraced starting out in my career. Often, I was the only Latina and the only Spanish-speaking person in discussions around ocean policy and coastal advocacy. We are seeing that change and are proud to be part of the change.”
By Azul taking its grassroots #LatinosMarinos movement a step further, launching the #LatinosMarinos Rising Leaders Initiative, it will equip a core group of participants from across the U.S. with resources, tools, and opportunities to be effective ocean conservation leaders to support ocean justice policies, as agents of change in their own communities.
The program includes a virtual training curriculum with experienced Latinx ocean leaders and a week of programming in Washington, D.C. to implement their learnings into advocacy action. It culminates as Azul staff and program participants come together to celebrate their progress and accomplishments with a graduation reception. Following the program in our nation’s capital, participants will create individual work plans customized to their community needs and have the opportunity to apply for additional funds to carry out work and stewardship in their own communities. The program kicks off on April 19, 2023, and runs through September.
BACKGROUND: The #LatinosMarinos Rising Leaders Initiative application is live, with an April 7 deadline for interested participants to apply. The application process is brief. Applicants will be asked to provide their contact information and respond to five essay questions, followed by a brief interview with the Azul team before determinations are made. The program is open to participants 18 years of age or above; participants must reside in the U.S. and be willing to travel with expenses paid, and a $1,200 stipend offered. No education or career prerequisites are required to apply.
About Azul
Azul is a Latinx-led and serving grassroots environmental justice organization working to conserve the ocean. Founded in 2011 to increase opportunities for Latinx participation in ocean conservation, Azul has long advocated for environmental justice and equity in the state of California, across the nation, and at international levels. Follow Azul on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube at @AzulDotOrg, or on its website at www.azul.org.
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