Playing in a public park and marching in a political rally may seem like two completely unrelated activities.
But for Chispa Arizona, an environmental justice organization that advocates for the state s Latino communities, the two are thoroughly intertwined.
Since its founding in 2014, Chispa Arizona set an ambitious agenda: advocating for clean and renewable energy at state and local levels, campaigning for funding for public land and working to expand voting rights. The group played an instrumental role in the record Latino voter turnout in Arizona in the 2020 elections.
Although Chispa has had successes, such as helping to elect one of the first Latinas to a statewide office Anna Tovar, who serves on the Arizona Corporation Commission it also has met resistance and disinterest from the very community members who could benefit from its initiatives.