Hispanic Heritage Month: Olga Gonzalez

The views, thoughts and opinions expressed in this blog are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Land Trust Alliance, its staff, its board of directors or any other individuals associated with the organization.

Each year, Americans observe National Hispanic Heritage Month from September 15 to October 15 by celebrating the histories, cultures and contributions of those whose ancestors came from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean and Central and South America. Toward that end, the Alliance recently spoke with Olga Gonzalez, the executive director of Cultivando and the CEO of OG Consulting Services.

Land Trust Alliance: Thank you so much for your time. We'd love to start off by learning a little bit more about you, your work, and then what it is that draws you to the outdoors.

Olga Gonzalez: I am an Indigenous woman born in Mexico. My people are Otomi and Yaqui. My parents brought me to the U.S. when I was 4 years old. I grew up in Los Angeles and moved to Denver right after college.

As the eldest child, I was the first person in my family to learn to speak English. I became my parents’ interpreter and advocate because I became aware of the injustices that they faced for being Spanish-speaking Mexicans. I have spent more than 30 years working in the nonprofit space and doing diversity, equity, inclusion and justice consulting centered on relationship building, justice and healing.

Currently, I am the executive director of Cultivando, a nonprofit organization that cultivates the leadership of the Latino community to promote health equity through advocacy, collaboration and social change. I am basically doing the same advocacy I did for my family as a child, but now I get to do it with a team of powerful Latinas! Over the past five years, we have focused a significant amount of our work on environmental justice. We work in the most contaminated zip code in the United States and many of our community members suffer from frequent nose bleeds, headaches, asthma and cancer.

(We invite you to the Inaugural Promoters Conference, hosted by the Change Creating Collective in Colorado. We will be presenting the documentary of "Las Promotoras" in order to create more awareness about Environmental Justice. Don't miss it!)

I am the proud mother of 3 amazing children who inspire me to continue this challenging work-they remind me that the work I do benefits them, the children in our community and the future generations to come. I love being in the mountains near lakes and rivers, hiking, soaking in hot springs and staying in hotels in mountain communities. At my age, I like to sleep in a comfortable bed with all of the amenities after a long day of being outdoors!

Land Trust Alliance: Talk a little bit more about your own personal connection to the land and how your culture has contributed to that connection.

Gonzalez: I have a bittersweet connection to the land. My Yaqui ancestors were forcibly relocated and enslaved in Mexico. My family has learned to adapt to different environments and to make the most of the land that they have inhabited. My parents had us leave Mexico in search of better opportunities in the U.S. The journey across the border was risky and unsafe. Thankfully, we all made it across and I realize that many others have not been so fortunate.

As formerly undocumented people, we also had to make several moves within the U.S. Although most of my family has roots in Guanajuato, that is not where I grew up. Throughout all of this history and my family’s numerous moves, I used to long for a place I could call home. Culturally, I know that no matter where I am, I am a child of Mother Earth and that my ancestors walked these same lands that I have also walked. My culture has informed this sacred connection to this land and I feel the presence of my ancestors wherever I go. I have since learned to make my home wherever I plant my prayers.

Land Trust Alliance: Undoubtedly there are challenges and barriers to address to achieve more equitable access to the outdoors and nature for Latino communities. What are some of those barriers?

Gonzalez: In speaking to many Latinos throughout my work, they have identified several common barriers to their participation in the outdoors, including a lack of information about what outdoor landmarks or places of interest might be such as camping grounds, lakes, trails, etc. They are also not always familiar with organizations that provide opportunities for them to engage in nature activities, especially with their families.

Many activities are also cost-prohibitive or have complicated application processes. The information is not provided in Spanish or whatever their native language may be. In Colorado, we have a significant Mayan community as well as some other Indigenous groups from Mexico and Central America who do not speak Spanish and first language.

And organizations have not bothered to ask Latinos what outdoor activities or programming would be most relevant to them. For many Latinos, they enjoy participating in intergenerational activities with their elders and children. They enjoy grilling by lakes and rivers and watching their children play nearby. Many also like fishing and camping. Others enjoy outdoor sports like soccer. Some also like easy hikes and taking in the beautiful scenery. It would be important for organizations to have culturally and linguistically relevant programming as well as Latino bilingual staff.

Land Trust Alliance: Besides bringing in bilingual staff, how can land conservation and the conservation community better tailor programming to meet the needs of Latino communities?

Gonzalez: Take the time to listen to the Latino community to hear for activities that may be relevant to them. Make time to build relationships of trust with the community. Hire trusted Latino community members as staff from within the local community at all levels of the organization and take their lead. Ensure that the board also has Latino representation. Create welcoming environments within your organizations and learn about the culture of the local Latino community.

Land Trust Alliance: Surveys conducted by the Hispanic Access Foundation have repeatedly found high levels of support for conservation, including things many folks take for granted like access to parks and natural areas, within Latino communities. Talk a little about Cultivando and its work and its push for environmental justice.

Gonzalez: Many Latinos come from agricultural backgrounds or have positive connections to the outdoors in their homelands. They understand the importance of conserving land for their children and for future generations. I grew up near the mountains and my family also enjoyed being out in nature on the weekends. It was a welcome contrast to the smog and traffic of the city.

As a health equity organization, Cultivando entered the environmental justice and advocacy space when Latina moms reported that their children were often late for school due to headaches, breathing problems and bloody noses. The school administrators assumed that their children were being abused or neglected and didn’t realize the connection between these symptoms and the pollution that these children were exposed to regularly. On top of that, the city and the state officials also ignored their concerns. We understood that we could not raise healthy children in contaminated communities where the air was dangerous to breathe, where the water was unsafe to drink and where the soil was not free from toxic chemicals.

Cultivando launched Colorado’s first independent, community-led air monitoring project which confirmed that several toxins that are dangerous to human health are present in our air, soil and water daily. When more parents learned how their environment was toxic, they organized to hold our major polluter, the Suncor oil refinery, accountable. They also held the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment accountable for repeatedly granting Suncor permits despite repeated air quality violations that put our community’s health at risk. Our community understands that land conservation and environmental advocacy are critical to ensuring that our children can grow up in a toxic-free environment.

Land Trust Alliance: In September, Hispanic Heritage Month overlapped with Latino Conservation Week, a project of the Hispanic Access Foundation. During the week, each day featured a unique theme — one theme for this year was “De la Tierra Nacimos” (“We are born from the earth”). What meaning does this have for you?

Gonzalez: Somos hijos de la Madre Tierra. This means that we have a responsibility to care of her and to be in a sacred relationship with the elements, the foods, the animals, the plants that she provides. This includes being in good relationships with other people. What we do to others, we do to ourselves. How we treat the Earth reflects our values. Would we disrespect, mistreat, abuse and harm our mother? Only those motivated by greed would do this. We have a responsibility to leave this Earth better than we found it. This is how we honor our ancestors and our future generations. La Tierra is where we will return when we take our last breath. De la Madre Tierra nacimos, y como sus hijos, a ella regresaremos…

Land Trust Alliance: Additional themes included “Sembrando el Futuro” (“Planting/Sowing the Future”) and “Semillas de Cambio” (“Seeds of Change”). What do these themes mean to you?

Gonzalez: A través de nuestras acciones, estamos sembrando el futuro para las próximas generaciones. Through our actions, we are planting the future for our next generations. What are we doing to be good ancestors? What examples are we setting for our children? We may not see the fruits of our labor in our lifetimes, but we can do our part to make it easier for the next generation and prepare them to continue this work to save and heal our Mother Earth. The seeds of change must be planted with love. It is out of love for Mother Earth, for our families and children and communities that we do this work. Change will be born from our seeds of change and hopes for the future that is life-sustaining.

Land Trust Alliance: When the Hispanic Access Foundation launched Latino Conservation Week back in 2014 there were nine events, and by its tenth anniversary in 2023, the week had grown to more than 300 events across the country! Can you share some of your own experiences or an event that stood out to you?

Gonzalez: We hold an annual EcoFiesta in our community where we share updates on our environmental justice work and invite more community members to join us. It is a beautiful celebration of our collective accomplishments and of our culture. We have live music, dancing, free food, vendors and informational booths from several partners who also focus on environmental justice and health equity.

We partner with Commerce City and it is an event that is well attended by hundreds and which our community looks forward to every year. It is a reminder that positive change is happening and that we can hold space to experience joy even in the middle of our collective struggle for environmental justice, health equity and healing.

Land Trust Alliance: Is there anything else you’d like to share with people who are interested in learning more about your work and how they can support it?

Gonzalez: People can support our work by sharing their time, skills, donations and connections. We hope that more organizations that focus on health equity, conservation, environmental justice and Latino populations will join our work. We are dealing with environmental genocide from Suncor and local, state and federal governments that have neglected our predominantly BIPOC community for nearly 100 years. We are working in the most polluted zip code in the country that is also predominantly composed of Latino families living in a “sacrifice zone.” We are a small team of nine staff who are also doing mental health work, early childhood education and leadership development through our promotora model, and much more throughout the state. If there has ever been a time or a place that needs attention, it is HERE and it is NOW! You can learn more about us and support our work by visiting our website at www.cultivando.org.