Interviews with purpose-driven leaders who are dedicated to helping others and making a positive impact in the world.
April 25, 2024
Luis Villa | Latino Outdoors
TELL US, WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT DO YOU DO?
Hola. My name is Luis Villa, and I’m the executive director of Latino Outdoors. Latino Outdoors’ mission centers around three things: 1. fostering connections in the outdoors with the communities that we serve, 2. contributing to an expanded narrative around what it means to be outdoorsy, and 3. supporting new and diverse leadership in the outdoors.
HOW DID YOU GET HERE?
I was born and raised in southern California and Los Angeles, right next to the LA River, which is a concrete channel. In 2006, life took me to the tropics, specifically to Costa Rica, for 12 years. I did conservation work for more than a decade, and that experience inspired me. I brought that inspiration back with me and wanted to do what I could to cultivate stronger connections with the outdoors and with nature for my community: underserved and underrepresented communities. When I came back to the U.S. in 2018, it coincided with Latino Outdoors looking for a new executive director so I threw my hat in the ring, and here I am.
WHAT DO YOU STAND FOR? WHY IS THIS WORK IMPORTANT TO YOU?
It goes back to that experience of doing conservation work in Costa Rica. I didn’t study biology or ecology in school, I actually studied psychology. One of the most important lessons I learned while doing conservation work, was that diversity in ecosystems is very important in making those ecosystems robust, resilient, and sustainable. I quickly understood that applies to people systems as well. That is another lesson that I brought back with me. Diversity is a controversial word for some people in our society, and it shouldn’t be because nature teaches us that we need diversity in order to have resilient systems, even in society. Being a part of the effort to diversify people systems through my work with Latino Outdoors is very important to me. I think I’m contributing to what I envision as being a society that is not only sustainable but one that can thrive.
WHAT IMPACT ARE YOU MAKING?
I define impact as all communities having equitable access to the outdoors and being able to benefit from the health and wellness that comes with having a strong connection to nature and the outdoors. You’d think that we’d be so connected with all the technology that we have available to us through social networks and whatnot. But it’s quite the opposite. We’ve found at Latino Outdoors that the outdoors is the perfect place to foster community and to foster health and wellness. When we achieve that, that, to me is impact.
WHAT (OR WHO) INSPIRES YOU TO DO THIS WORK?
My mentors, who are all my former bosses and supervisors, have emphasized the significance of building strong interpersonal connections and truly understanding and engaging with others. In Costa Rica, I worked with one of the founding fathers of Costa Rica’s national park systems. His name was Alvero Ugalde and he was a conservation biologist and an ecology expert. But what I found truly inspirational about Alvero was just how he made you feel so special and so appreciated. That’s how I felt around him. I noticed that he was just great with people and he inspired people to do their best in whatever they were doing. He recognized your strengths as a person and encouraged you to lean into those strengths. He was very inspirational as a mentor. I take a lot of his lessons and apply them every day in my work.
WHAT’S YOUR VISION, YOUR BIG DREAM FOR THE IMPACT YOU WANT TO MAKE?
Alvero came up with this phrase when he was trying to push for a national campaign to protect Costa Rica’s natural resources, open spaces, and national parks. He said we should achieve peace with nature.
Costa Rica’s president at the time was Oscar Arias. In his first presidency, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his work in brokering peace in Central America. Alberto went to him and said, you won the Nobel Peace Prize for contributing to peace in Central America and the region. So why not try to achieve peace with nature? That phrase, “Peace with nature,” really stuck with me. When someone asks me what my vision is, I want people to achieve peace with nature. These days, I want us to achieve peace with ourselves as well. It’s twofold.
WHAT CHALLENGES ARE YOU FACING?
The roadblocks we face at Latino Outdoors are the roadblocks that you’d expect when working with under-resourced communities: disproportionately challenged access to the resources needed to do well and thrive in society. But taking it further, just looking at society as a whole, I think the roadblock is a lack of understanding of the nuance that is needed in our interactions with each other. It’s different communities interacting and connecting with each other and understanding our respective plights. I think there’s a lot more common ground than we realize because so polarized and we’re not able to appreciate nuance in conversation with each other and in connection with each other. We’re missing the opportunity to see how much more in common we have than how we are different.
WHAT’S ONE THING YOU WANT PEOPLE TO KNOW ABOUT YOUR CAUSE AND/OR THE WORK YOU’RE DOING?
What we’re doing brings joy to everyone. Even people who aren’t regular outdoor enthusiasts who join us for our activities have a joyful experience. That’s almost without fail. We have a national network of volunteers in more than 30 locations around the country, organizing and leading outdoor activities for different communities. I read all the after-outing reports that our volunteers submi, and the anecdotes they share all point to joyful experiences for everyone who participates.
DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE QUOTE OR WORDS OF INSPIRATION TO SHARE?
“We stand for what we stand on,” by Wendell Berry, an environmentalist and conservationist. That, to me, is a very powerful quote because at Latino Outdoors, one of the main things we’re working towards is expanding equitable access to the outdoors for all communities, particularly the communities that really haven’t had that access in the past. When you feel welcomed to these local, regional, and national parks and green spaces, and you feel like they are yours as well, then you are also more likely to stand up for them, defend them, and protect them.
HOW CAN OTHERS SUPPORT YOU OR YOUR CAUSE?
My call to action is for folks to join us outdoors. Just because we are called Latino Outdoors doesn’t mean that it’s only Latino community members who join us for our outings. We welcome everybody to celebrate the Latino experience in the outdoors. Anybody can join us for that. We have all sorts of activities all over the country, from just a regular day at your local park to hiking, climbing, biking, and rafting. I welcome everybody to join us and information can be found on our website. Additionally, we’re a nonprofit so we depend on the support of donations from individuals, other organizations, or companies to help us continue our efforts.
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