Por Richard A. Rojas Sr.
Director Emeritus Latino Outdoors – Advisory Board
Before sharing my story about my incredible 10-year journey with Latino Outdoors, I need to take a few steps back and explain how my life and career helped to shape who I am and how Latino Outdoors has become so important in my life today. So, let me begin.
Growing Up in the City
I grew up in the City of Commerce, CA located in Southeast Los Angeles County approximately 10 miles from downtown Los Angeles. I am the middle of five siblings born to my parents John and Connie Rojas. In the early 1960’s, Commerce was home to the Santa Fe-Southern Pacific (SP) Los Angeles Railyard, several large manufacturing companies and commercial warehouses whose locations benefited from their proximities to the Los Angeles and Long Beach Harbors — and freeway close to all of Southern California. Most of our city’s 9,500 residents lived in modest 2- & 3-bedroom, 1 bathroom, wood sided homes built during the post-WWII boom of the 1950’s. The city’s bustling daytime workforce population exceeded 40,000, with commuters making their way to and from nearby suburban communities each day.
Our house was located on a cul-de-sac of 9 homes — connected to the outside world by an adjacent street with about 20 homes where working-class parents raised families and allowed their children to play in the streets until dusk, or explore the brown fields along the nearby SP railroad right-of-way that bordered our neighborhood to the west. On most days, the sounds of passing train engines, the clickity-clack of freight railroad cars, factory whistles and fabricating machinery, and semi-truck and auto traffic on the nearby boulevard or freeway — or the sirens of passing police, fire or ambulance vehicles all but drowned out the calming quiet of nature. My parents were not campers, but they were friends to a wonderful family — Valentino (Val) and Lupe Menesses and their daughters Josie and Veronica. It was the Menesses family that invited our family on our camping first trip to Sequoia National Park and as a young boy, opened my mind to the possibility of working in the outdoors. Val was also a former Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) enrollee (from 1938 to 1941), and he was proud of the work his CCC crew did in building park buildings and trails at Grand Canyon National Park. He loved the outdoors.
In early spring of 1969, I met my first US Forest Service Ranger while camping at Little Rock Dam near Palmdale, CA. I was 13 years old. Bill Sturgis, an adult neighbor and friend of my parents introduced my older brother David and me to fishing, hunting, camping, the importance of safety in the outdoors — along with the importance of environmental stewardship (Bill’s version of ‘Leave No Trace’). One morning during breakfast at camp, a middle-aged Ranger named Bob stopped by our campsite to check Bill’s hunting license, and to talk to us about hunting and hiking safety in the nearby Angeles National Forest. To a young boy eager to learn everything I could about the outdoors, having Bill as a lifelong friend and mentor, coupled with my chance meeting with Ranger Bob made a lasting impression on me and would plant a seed of possibilities for how I too might become a Park Ranger someday.
It wasn’t until after I graduated from high school and began attending East Los Angeles College (ELAC) did my thoughts and dreams of becoming a Park Ranger began to come into greater focus. In the fall of 1974, I read an article in the ELAC Campus News titled ‘Planning for Summer Jobs in the Outdoors’. The article included a few suggestions for students interested in seeking summer jobs in Southern California, which included contact information for the California Department of Parks and Recreation (CDPR). A few days later, I called the CDPR information number in Sacramento to inquire about seasonal jobs in Southern California. The representative was very helpful and offered to send me information on seasonal job descriptions, mailing addresses for nearby parks, and a few California Exam/Employment Application STD-678 forms, required for applying for State employment.
How a Summer Job Became a 32-Year Career with California State Parks
In spring of ’75, I had my first job interview for a Seasonal Maintenance Aid position at Huntington State Beach. To my surprise, my interview with the two Park Maintenance Supervisors only lasted 15 minutes. As I was waiting for the results of my interview, the younger man came out to tell me that my interview went well and he was referring me to the Chief Ranger for a job as a Visitor Services Park-aid! Ten minutes later, the Chief Ranger pulled into the shop yard and asked me to join him in his truck for another interview. Once inside, he told me that I had impressed the Maintenance Supervisors and then asked me a couple of questions regarding my experience working with the public. Since I didn’t have much experience, I was honest and said so. For the next two summers, I worked as a Visitor Services Park-aid at Huntington and Bolsa Chica State Beaches. My initial duties were staffing the park entrance stations; collecting park fees and answering visitor questions. But by the following spring, I was trained to become a radio dispatcher for the park rangers assigned to patrol the local State Beaches. As dispatchers, we served as the lifeline between ranger staff and local police, sheriff, fire and EMS personnel.
“Despite the stigma of being labeled an Affirmative Action appointment that would follow me through much of my career, I made it a personal goal to always strive to score the highest rank possible in future promotional exams. And I did.“
In early 1977, my fiancé, Ophelia, and I were married and I was feeling pretty confident that my seasonal job experience — coupled with the knowledge and preparation shared with me by co-workers and my supervisors assured me that I might do well on my first California State Park Ranger Technician exam. I took the exam in February and by early April, I received a letter from the State Personnel Board informing me that I had scored a 99% on my oral interview! I would later learn that military veterans were eligible for 10 points on State exams that would be added to their final exam scores. Since I was not a veteran, I received the highest score possible. Despite the stigma of being labeled an Affirmative Action appointment that would follow me through much of my career, I made it a personal goal to always strive to score the highest rank possible in future promotional exams. And I did.
For the next thirty-years, my life and career as a California State Park Ranger/Park Superintendent opened some of the most exciting and rewarding challenges that I could have ever imagined. And, while I plan to someday write a more detailed memoir of my life’s journey — at least for now, I will try to keep this version brief.
In spring of 1977, I became a California State Park Ranger Technician and spent 11 months assigned to the Channel Coast District Intake Area. While there, I became a journey-level Ranger learning the primary duties of a “generalist ranger”, and also attending Basic Visitor Services Training (BVST) at the William Penn Mott, Jr. Training Center in Pacific Grove, CA.
By the spring of 1978, Ophelia and I moved to Huntington Beach, CA and I reported to the Orange Coast District as a State Park Ranger Technician – Range B. My primary duties were to patrol the 2 miles of Huntington and 4 miles of Bolsa Chica State Beaches. Park Rangers were the primary law enforcement officers for the State-owned beaches, and our duties included enforcing the laws of California, as well as responding to park emergencies as First Responders. Because of my interest in early California history, I also became the relief Ranger at Pio Pico State Historic Park in Whittier, CA. It was while working here, did I learn and appreciate how important it was for me to be a Latino State Park Ranger interpreting the history and culture of the last Governor of Mexican California.
In the fall of 1981, I accepted a State Park Ranger I position at Donner Memorial State Park (DMSP) in Truckee, CA. At the time, the only available park housing was located 25 miles away a Sugar Pine Point State Park in Tahoma, CA on the West Shore of Lake Tahoe. So, Ophelia, Richard Jr. (1 yr.), Alison (5 mos.) and I moved into a 10’X60’ mobile home originally built for the 1960 US Winter Olympics. Little did we know at the time, but the winter of 1981-82 would become the worst winter season to hit the region since the ill-fated Donner Party attempted to cross the Sierra Nevada Mountains in 1846-47. In May of 1982, my family and I moved into a 3-bedroom, 1-bath State residence at DMSP. As a Park Ranger in the Sierra District, I gained a lot of respect and appreciation for the skills, knowledge and experience it takes to work and become successful in one of the State’s premier park locations. The more I learned, the more I sought to contribute toward improving the visitor’s experience and the public’s knowledge about California State Parks.
In the spring of 1986, I accepted a promotion to State Park Supervising Ranger position at the Gavilan District HQ, located in the town of San Juan Bautista, CA. While there, my duties included supervising the day-to-day operations of San Juan Bautista State Historic Park (SJBSHP), Fremont Peak State Park and Henry W. Coe State Park, near Morgan Hill, CA. At the time, Henry W. Coe State Park was 90,000 acres in size, the second largest in the State Park System. In addition to learning about the care, preservation and interpretation of the historic buildings and artifacts at SJBSHP, I learned to appreciate the work and support required to supervise three very active, yet different Volunteer-In-Parks (VIP) programs. As what is typical in many parks throughout the State, the volunteers at the Gavilan District’s 3 parks provided the majority of docent led interpretive programs and tours for park visitors. During this time, I became a Department Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Counselor, and later – a member of the Department’s EEO Committee. This period served as a real turning point for me, as I became more aware of the disparity in our Department’s effort in hiring, retaining and promoting women and BIPOC employees in the Park Ranger series, as well as the challenges facing Park Leadership in improving park access and equity for youth and families for California’s under-served communities.
California’s economy went through a steep and painful recession in the early 1990s, in which the state lost over 720,000 jobs, forcing CDPR to reduce its workforce and initiate a complete reorganization. Many jobs were eliminated, while others were consolidated to create efficiencies and reduce operational redundancies. For State Parks, that meant reducing 32-Park District operations into 15 medium-to-large consolidated Districts statewide.
In early spring 1991, I accepted a promotion to State Park Superintendent I position at La Purisima Mission State Historic Park (LPMSHP). Ophelia, our three children (Richard Jr., Alison, & Marci) and I moved into the 3-bedroom, 1 & ½ bath historic adobe house built for the NPS Superintendent who supervised the reconstruction of La Purisima Mission. From my first week as a Park Superintendent and for the next 6-months, I accompanied my boss Don Kinney and the other Superintendents from our Central Coast Region to participate in budget strategy sessions at our Monterey, CA Regional Office. This experience introduced me to our Department’s complex funding and budget systems, variables associated with personnel management under collective bargaining, as well as the delicate balance required to manage a Department whose purpose is protecting and operating parks, while also reducing costs and increasing revenue.
Also during this time, Kinney assigned me to serve as District lead in planning and hosting the 50th Anniversary of La Purisima Mission SHP’s Opening Day Celebration originally held on December 7, 1941. From 1938-41, La Purisima Mission was host to two Civilian Conservation Camps (CCC); Camp Santa Rosa — dedicated to the reconstruction of La Purisima Mission, as well as fighting wildfires and Camp Lompoc; whose enrollees were assigned to the Soil Conservation Service dedicated to conservation projects throughout Santa Barbara County farm and ranchlands. After months of meetings and planning, the highly publicized event was held on December 7, 1991 and was attended by a dozen of the original CCC members, NPS officials, CA State Parks Director Henry Agonia, Santa Barbara County Supervisors, City of Lompoc Mayor, and many community members and supporters. The event was a joy to host and experience.
Serving as Park Superintendent at LPMSHP will always have a special meaning to me. At the end of an informal meeting with members of our park’s maintenance crew, Moises Solis, a Park Maintenance Worker II took me aside and said that he and the other members of the crew wanted to tell me how proud they were to have me serve as the park’s first Latino Superintendent. I told Moises that I was deeply honored and I hoped that my contributions and leadership would not disappoint them. Moises and I remained friends until his death in 2022.
By spring 1992, the Department’s proposal to cut $32 million dollars from its General Fund budget was approved by the State Legislature and Governor Pete Wilson. Director Don Murphy created an employee led group to formalize the Department’s reorganization implementation plan and labeled the document “The Phoenix Report” (born from the ashes to rise again). In order to meet the budget cuts identified in the report, many supervisory and mid-level management positions would be eliminated, regional offices would be closed, two new service centers with natural, cultural, and specialist staff would be created, and the reduction in forces (RIF) would be implemented based on an employee’s seniority in her/his job classification.
At the time of reorganization, my options were either to accept a demotion and relocation to a Supervising Ranger position somewhere in the State, or do well on a new State Park Ranger V exam and be promoted to chief ranger in one of the five new consolidated Districts. In mid-1993, I did well on the exam and accepted an appointment to serve as the Chief Ranger for the Channel Coast District. Four of my colleagues and I who became Chief Rangers in the State’s other large Districts were known as the “Gang of Five” in State Parks.
“I learned that building trust was an essential element for State Parks to survive during challenging fiscal times.”
The new Channel Coast District included 1-State Park, 2-State Historic Parks and 8-State Beaches located in Western Ventura and Coastal Santa Barbara Counties, and my boss Steve Treanor considered me to be his assistant District Superintendent and not a traditional Chief Ranger. So, I was expected to delegate many of the traditional Chief Ranger duties including Peace Officer training, records management and park and lifeguard operations to my six subordinate supervisors. As assistant Superintendent, I was assigned District lead on all operational matters occurring in the northern half of our District, mainly Santa Barbara County. It was in this role, that I was able to hone my skills in relationship building, contract negotiations and building alliances with our Federal, State, County and local officials and community park partners. I learned that building trust was an essential element for State Parks to survive during challenging fiscal times.
“Lifting others up in order to reach their own full potential was always very important to me. It was part of my plan for cultivating future Latino leaders.”
Also during this time, I was invited by Carol Nelson, State Parks Field Services Division Chief to assist her in co-instructing the Cultural Diversity and Discrimination course to our State Park Ranger Cadets attending BVSP academy at the MTC. In 1999, I became the Department’s subject expert and lead instructor for Peace Officers Standard of Training (POST) Learning Domain (LD)-42. The course included an in-depth coverage of the subjects Cultural Diversity and Discrimination, Sexual Harassment, Racial Profiling and Hate Crimes. I remained lead BVST instructor for POST LD-42 for the next three years. After which, I recruited a young Latino Superintendent who I had mentored and prepared him to assume the lead instructor duties. Lifting others up in order to reach their own full potential was always very important to me. It was part of my plan for cultivating future Latino leaders.
In early 2000, I took the State Park Superintendent V exam and scored well. By mid-summer, I accepted a promotion to become the Channel Coast District Superintendent (CCDS) and my wife and I bought a home in Goleta, CA. At the time, Ophelia and I made plans to settle down until our three children graduated from college. As CCDS, I was responsible for management of the entire district; including acquisition, planning, development, budgeting, personnel, park maintenance, public safety and lifeguard services. Our district included fifty permanent full-time and almost one hundred seasonal employees, along with three incredibly supportive Volunteer-in-Parks docent programs.
“But instead of retreating and accepting the status quo, I focused my energy on building my own diverse, equitable and inclusive district work-team, while also supporting my staff in leadership roles within State Parks and in our community.”
As a District Superintendent, we were often called on to serve on various committees and teams responsible for revenue generation, leadership training, promotional exam panels, internal affairs investigations and personnel disciplinary hearings. The job also required frequent travel to CSPR Headquarters in Sacramento, as well as to various other locations in the State to attend meetings and the Annual Statewide Superintendent’s conference. It was during our statewide conferences that I realized that my voice in advocating for more diversity, equity and inclusion in our workforce, along with greater access and equity to our parks and programs for our under-resourced communities – began to resonate with my peers and State Parks executive staff. I realized then that my intentions for positive change in our Department’s workforce and increased access and equity for all Californians may have been interpreted by my peers as wishful thinking on my part. But instead of retreating and accepting the status quo, I focused my energy on building my own diverse, equitable and inclusive district work-team, while also supporting my staff in leadership roles within State Parks and in our community. As a lifelong advocate for improving access, inclusion and diversity within CDPR, I committed the last decade of my career to making a difference for women and members of our BIPOC communities who were traditionally underrepresented and underserved by our Department. My work and my reputation earned me the title of being California State Parks’ “Diversity guy” among my peers. It is a badge that I will always wear with pride and honor.
With the burst of California’s housing bubble in 2005, the State was once again facing another economic recession that would negatively impact State revenue and create budget cut-backs for all Departments. State Parks was not immune to these cuts, and some park units were scheduled for reduce hours of operations, closure and possible transfer to local agencies for management and operations. Initially, within my district — La Purisima Mission State Historic Park (a popular destination for 4th grade fieldtrips and family visitors) was scheduled for reduced hours of operation. But, after significant public pushback from Lompoc area business owners, school administrators, teachers, and local residents, plans for reducing park hours were scrapped.
For the next two years, I focused my time and energy in creating a stable work environment for my district employees. The Department’s reorganization in early 1990’s, followed by another round of budget cuts and restructuring of district operations in 2005-07, created a lot of uncertainty for many new employees, and caused worry for those career employees thinking about buying a home or planning for their retirement. As the end of 2007 approached, and after considerable thought on what I might be able to contribute to State Parks in the next 3-5 years, I made the decision to retire at the end of December. After 32-years of service, I realized that State Parks had invested a lot of time, money and confidence in me over the years to help me become a better employee and leader. After acquiring so many incredible skills, knowledge, and experience over the years – I knew that I still possessed untapped energy to make significant and meaningful contributions to my community after my retirement. So, I was eager and excited to find what my future life away from State Parks would have to offer.
So, for the next several years, I filled my life with quality time spent with family; camping and traveling and enjoying many life-enriching volunteer experiences with new acquaintances and friends. Some of these experiences included:
- I became a volunteer Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) for Santa Barbara County. As a CASA, over a 5-year time period I was matched with three young boys who were either in foster care or whose families were under Family Court monitoring or supervision. As a CASA, my role was to spend quality time with each CASA kid, serve as a stable adult in their otherwise chaotic lives and provide Child Protective Services and Family Court judge(s) with written case reports every 6-months. Serving as a CASA provided me with the most enriching life experiences one person could ever imagine.
- I was invited to join the Kiwanis Club of Santa Barbara, an International service club organization. While a Kiwanian, I served as club Treasurer and President.
- I served on the Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation (SBTHP) Board of Directors. The SBTHP manages and operates El Presidio de Santa Barbara State Historic Park and other historic properties in Santa Barbara County. I was on-track to become SBTHP President before Ophelia and relocated to La Habra, CA in 2016.
- I also served on the City of Goleta Parks & Recreation Commission as their first Commission Chairman.
My Chance Encounter with José González, founder of Latino Outdoors –
In November 2013, I came across an article José González published in Latino Outdoors online newsletter titled “We’ve Got a Park for That!” His piece was a brief summary of his take-aways from a recent conference he attended sponsored by the California State Parks Foundation called the Latino Los Angeles Legacy Forum. In particular, José underscored how while CA State Parks maintains a diverse system of parks, historic parks and beaches, many parks experience low visitation by Latino youth and families – possibly due to our unfamiliarity with how State Parks are classified and how they can be used and enjoyed by visitors.
After reading José’s article, I posted a comment sharing with José and LO blog readers my experience working as a CA State Park Ranger at Pio Pico State Historic Park (PPSHP). And while it’s true that Pio Pico SHP was named and classified to preserve the history of the last governor of Alta-California under Mexican rule, the park also maintains a wonderful picnic area and public restrooms, making it ideal for small family gatherings and celebrations. As a follow-up to my comments, José reached out to me to ask if I would collaborate with him on a series of articles related to Latino experiences in National and State Parks? I agreed, so José and I began to work together on a series of articles related to park protection, park uses and the concept of ambiculture – having a shared experience of being Latino and also an outdoors advocate.
By late summer of 2014, José and I had collaborated on a couple of articles for his LO blog, and judging by the feedback our stories generated from reader’s comments, likes and shares, people were starting to take notice and appreciate the work José was doing in building an online community around LO. It was about this time that I suggested to José that he and I meet to explore ways in which I might be able to assist him in expanding his vision for LO. He excitedly agreed, and he invited me to attend a presentation on Latino Outdoors that he would be giving for one of the student clubs at Cal-Poly Pomona in a few weeks. He also said that Graciela Cabello, newly appointed LO Los Angeles coordinator would also be attending the presentation, so José said that he would invite her to join us afterwards to discuss ideas for expanding LO.
A few days later as I listened to José’s presentation to a crowded room of students and faculty at Cal-Poly Pomona, it became clear to me that his message about ambiculture – living between two worlds – one as a young Latino man, and the other as an outdoor enthusiast and leader, really resonated with the mostly Latino audience. As José described how he hoped to expand LO to become a national network of Latino outdoor enthusiasts – he emphasized the importance of sharing their own individual stories… while celebrating comunidad and cultura in the outdoor space. It was clear by the questions asked by audience members that Jose’s invitation to join the “movemento” by following LO on social media struck a chord of excitement and endless possibilities for this generation of outdoor enthusiasts.
During our first meeting, José, Graciela and I reflected on how the national #BlackLivesMatter movement of 2013 was becoming a catalyst for young people in the United States to use social media for sharing their personal opinions, political views and expressions against social injustice impacting communities. José shared that he had purchased the domain name for Latino Outdoors and connected with Lesly Caballero, Melissa Avery, Eduardo González, Alfonso Orozco, and Jacky Elizarraraz. With just a basic foundation and a few ideas about what LO could be — but not a complete idea of what an LO organization might look like, José began to share his ideas with others.
“We all agreed that if LO was to be effective as a national organization, we would need to recruit, train and manage decentralized volunteer regional teams to coordinate and deliver outings programs.”
We all agreed that creating a “safe space” in the outdoors for our Latino comunidad to share stories, explore nature and celebrate familia would be a positive escape for young people seeking a refuge away from the fear, unrest and turmoil impacting the daily lives of so many Latino-Americans. The biggest take away from our initial meeting, was that we all agreed that if LO was to be effective as a national organization, we would need to recruit, train and manage decentralized volunteer regional teams to coordinate and deliver outings programs. But first, we would need to secure funding to hire core organization staff including an Executive Director, an Operations Director, a Program Directors and a Development Director. As funding became available, additional staff to handle social media and communications would be desirable. It was in February of 2014 that the first “official” outing happened with the LO name in partnership with other groups from Marin County. Alicia Cruz reached out to José for his support, before she was on-boarded and became our first LO SF-North Bay Regional Outings Leader. Meanwhile, Melissa Avery was able to secure a 3-year grant from East Bay Regional Park District for LO programming, followed by Jennifer Adams and Victoria Salas starting an outings program in the SF-South Bay area’s regional and State Parks.
As I look back to the early days of my involvement with LO (2014-2016), I remember the many emails, calls and impromptu meetings that Jose, Graciela and I shared discussing a full-range of topics including developing a process for vetting, pursuing, monitoring and managing grant applications, along with managing a grant timeline for deliverables, the need to develop policies and procedures for on-boarding and managing LO volunteers, the need to adopt accounting and budgeting best practices, the need to create shared calendars and communication tools like Google Share Drive files and folders for saving and archiving important LO documents, photos and videos. Also during this time, I researched what would be necessary in preparing LO to apply for its 501(c)3 Non-profit Organization certification with the Internal Revenue Service. This work included collaborating with a Los Angeles, CA based law firm that offered to provide LO with pro-bono legal services in drafting Latino Outdoors Articles of Incorporation, By-laws, a Conflict-of-Interest Statement, and other documents needed to complete our 501(c)3 Non-profit Organization certification application.
Meanwhile, in April 2015, José was actively pursuing grants and other funding opportunities to support LO’s small but mighty crew of volunteers. He soon learned that until LO received its own 501(c)3 Non-profit organization certification, we would need to find a fiscal sponsor willing to accept LO as one of its “projects”. After a brief search, José was successful in crafting an agreement with an organization based in Capitola, CA “The Children Are Our Future” (TCAOF), allowing LO to operate under TCAOF’s non-profit organization designation.
During much of early 2016, Graciela collaborated with Analisa Freitas, who was an LO volunteer and coordinator in the California Central Valley and then D.C., and together they spent many hours creating processes for social media, marketing and onboarding new volunteers. Then in August — after initially serving as LO’s acting National Director (volunteer) for 8-months, Graciela was appointed to serve as LO’s first permanent full-time National Director. While a good portion of her time was spent vetting, on-boarding, training and supervising our expanding group of LO volunteers, she was also responsible for managing and tracking LO’s income and expenses; including all grants, general expenditures, volunteer stipends and reimbursements. Things were beginning to come together for LO, and as our capacity for onboarding more volunteers grew, so did our ability to collaborate with other outdoor organizations in sponsoring and providing outing activities and events.
“A group that included José, Graciela, several LO volunteer coordinators, outings leaders, ambassadors and I flew to Washington D.C. to attend the premier viewing of LO’s first short-movie titled ‘Estamos Aqui – A Story of Nature and Cultura’.”
Three exciting milestone LO events took place in 2016. In mid-April, we held our first Annual LO Leadership Campout at Malibu Creek State Park, located 33 miles north of Los Angeles. During the inaugural gathering, José and Graciela brought together about 30 LO leaders from 13 different LO regional teams across the US to meet, participate in training, share stories, build comunidad and explore Malibu Creek State Park together. Also that same weekend, LO held its first Advisory Board in-person meeting at the CSPR Angeles District HQ, located at Malibu Creek State Park. Our Advisory Board founding members included myself (Chairperson), Chuck Rocha (Vice-Chairperson), Jenny de la Hoz (Secretary), Carol Olson, Christina Gallegos and Midy Ponte. Then in November, a group that included José, Graciela, several LO volunteer coordinators, outings leaders, ambassadors and I flew to Washington D.C. to attend the premier viewing of LO’s first short-movie titled “Estamos Aqui – A Story of Nature and Cultura”, written and produced by Kenny Ballentine. The movie viewing took place in South Court Auditorium in the Eisenhower Building of the White House. Afterwards, our group was treated to a tour of the White House – East Wing. It was definitely one of the proudest moments that our LO staff, volunteers and I had ever experienced together since joining LO.
In September 2017, José stepped down from serving as LO’s Executive Director to join the Avarna Group and become a full-time consultant and advisor on issues including diversity, equity, inclusion and justice in the outdoor space. During this transition, our Advisory Board hired Tim Daniels, a San Francisco-Bay Area based consultant who specialized in serving as an interim executive director for local non-profit organizations experiencing a change in leadership. During his 6-months with LO, Tim provided our board and staff with a steady hand, insightful recommendations on board development, fundraising, establishing sub-committee priorities, suggestions for developing a focused recruitment and hiring strategy for LO’s next permanent Executive Director. With Tim’s assistance, our board launched a national search for qualified and experienced executive director candidates to fill our vacant position.
After completing a comprehensive national search, our board appointed Luis Villa to serve as our new Executive Director (ED) on April 18, 2018. Luis came to LO after serving as Chief Operating Officer (COO) with the Nectandra Institute, a non-profit organization dedicated to the conservation and restoration of tropical cloud forests in Costa Rica. Born and raised in Southern California, Luis had an affinity for the outdoors as a young man, and later enjoyed running and hiking during his leisure time away from work. During his final interview, Luis shared with our panel that he believed finding LO was all a part of his life plan – matching his love of the outdoors with his desire for serving his Latinx community. Looking back to that day, I am always reminded how grateful I am that we found Luis, or maybe that Luis found us — to lead LO into the future!
Soon after his appointment, Luis shared with me his desire to first get to know Ruby, our volunteer regional coordinators, ambassadors and outings leaders, as well as our advisory board members and learn all that he could about LO’s programming history – before proposing any significant changes for LO. While at the Nectandra Institute, one of Luis’ primary responsibilities was to manage the organization’s accounting and budgeting programs, so our advisory board members and I were excited that one of Luis’ first assignments would be to work with our current fiscal funder’s accounting manager at Community Initiative (CI) to evaluate our current LO budget and expenditure reports. Within weeks, Luis informed our advisory board that in CI’s view and after his own assessment – LO’s accounting practices, budget and grants program management were consistent with the standards expected for a stand-alone 501(c)3 Non-profit organization. In other words, LO was in great fiscal health!
For the next two-years, Luis focused on maintaining his relationships with LO’s major donors, while at the same time invested time and energy cultivating relationships with new strategic partner organizations and potential funders. By 2019, LO’s reputation — through its voice and its actions providing unique quality experiences for Latino youth, young adults and families in the outdoor space was becoming noticed and valued on the national level. Donors and grant funders were aware of LO’s consistent message – blending cultura and comunidad, and viewed our organization’s mission and vision to be a unique and invaluable touchstone for our growing national organization.
By early 2020, Luis’ dedication and hard work documenting LO’s immediate need for capacity building support would soon result in new unrestricted funds that would allow us to expand our bandwidth by hiring additional staff and recruiting and on-boarding new volunteer regional coordinators, outings leaders and ambassadors. New additional funding also allowed LO to move our Los Angeles LO Regional team member Christian La Mont into a paid part-time position serving as lead for marketing, communications and social media. Overnight, LO’s staffing level would be increased to three employees, shining a bright light on the future of LO possibilities. But events occurring on the other side of the World would soon impact how many countries; including the US, would begin to impose strict travel and social distancing regulations in order to protect its citizens and stop the spread of the deadly COVID-19 coronavirus.
In mid-April 2020, with the uncertainty on how COVID-19 travel, masking and social distancing restrictions might impact LO’s ability to meet our grantor and donor’s expectations for LO sponsored outings and other deliverables, Luis reached out to me to share his concerns and brainstorm options. With many park and open-space agencies preparing to close or limit visitor hours, it was no surprise to us that individuals, groups and families were now seeking more outdoor time as an escape and respite from the fear and uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Before LO made any decisions for reducing or curtailing its outings programs, I suggested that Luis ask the following two questions to our staff and volunteers, and to our grantors and donors.
- With the likelihood of reduced or limited hours of access to parks and other public spaces, would staff and volunteers have the interest, energy and time to develop a series of virtual activities, outings, & events for engaging LO participants for the next 6-9 months? If yes, ….
- Would our grantors and funders accept attendance and participation at LO led virtual activities, outings and events as meeting their grant deliverables and expectations for funding?
“I will forever be amazed at the agility in which our LO staff and volunteers were able to pivot and excel during the otherwise uncertain days of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
It became abundantly clear to Luis and me that since many of our LO staff and volunteers are millennials, bi-lingual (English-Spanish) and exceptionally talented in today’s internet technology uses and space, we were confident that they would easily exceed any request for transitioning LO programming to a virtual world. And boy did they ever! The list of amazing programs that I observed during this time included virtual nature walks, bird identification sessions, tide pool exploration, Loteria in the outdoors, as well as camping and hiking equipment demos and even Friday evening campfire programs! I will forever be amazed at the agility in which our LO staff and volunteers were able to pivot and excel during the otherwise uncertain days of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In looking back at the first 10-years of LO’s incredible arc of history and growth, there are so many wonderful milestones, and so many memories for me to recall.
In preparing my ‘Yo Cuento’ story, Christian asked me; “What special memories speak to you about your journey with Latino Outdoors?” My response, “All of them!” As many people know, my family is the center of my universe, and now that I have six grandchildren, I am always thinking of things to do and say with them that will remain in their memories of me long after I am gone. Sharing my love for the outdoors, my time as an LO Advisory Board member and my appreciation for the amazing work and dedication of our entire LO staff simply warms my heart every day. These are things my wife Ophelia, our adult children and our grandchildren know of me when they hear my stories about LO or see me smile after spending time in the outdoors with our LO volunteers.
“My advice to future LO leaders and staff: If for any reason the journey ahead for you looks too risky, too complicated or uncertain, just look for the trek pole lines in the trail ahead.”
Lastly, as I transition into my new role as LO Advisory Board – Director Emeritus, I pledge to always be one of LO’s greatest champions, promoting the incredible life affirming connections our LO familia strives to always make between our wonderful Latinx comunidad, our cultura and our rightful place in the outdoors. My advice to future LO leaders and staff: If for any reason the journey ahead for you looks too risky, too complicated or uncertain, just look for the trek pole lines in the trail ahead. Your LO ancestors will always guide you, protect you and continue to support you — long after they are gone. Trust me.
