Article

Meet Mayra Pelagio-Muñoz, Latine Environmental Advocate

Sep 15 to Oct 15 marks National Hispanic Heritage Month. Meet one of many Silicon Valley Latine leaders who are changing the outdoor community.

By Naomi Friedland
 
Oct. 4, 2023—Mayra Pelagio-Muñoz’s childhood in rural Mexico was shaped by her great-grandmother’s fruit trees and the little birds that she fed each morning. She watched her great-grandmother sing to her birds and sell her produce in nearby towns. Her family helped foster a long-lasting connection to the outdoors. 
 
When Pelagio-Muñoz turned 13, her family migrated to East San Jose. It was a major adjustment living in a busy urban area with no nature in sight. The only nearby natural spot, she recalls, was a polluted creek behind her high school that school administration discouraged students from visiting. Craving any glimmer of the natural world, she rebelled and visited the creek with her friends in her senior year. Spending time at the creek made Pelagio-Muñoz realize just how important her connection to nature is. 
 
After graduating from UC Davis in 2017, Pelagio-Muñoz returned to East San Jose and pursued a master's at San Jose State University. Her thesis about Latine connections to wildlife planted the seed for her current project, Reconnect Outdoors, which aims to bring more Latines and immigrants from East San Jose to local parks. 
 
After transitioning out of her executive director position at Latinos United for a New America in May 2023, she collaborated with other organizers at the Environmental Justice Organizing Academy to conduct weekly sessions with East San Jose community members to assess local environmental concerns and needs. 
 
“In the first session, I shared my upbringing and found out that all those immigrants had similar stories of being really deeply connected to nature in their hometowns, and losing that connection when they moved to the US,” Pelagio-Muñoz says. That was an “Aha” moment for her. “We were connected and needed to be reconnected.” 
 
Receiving a grant from Justice Outside to pursue this project, Pelagio-Muñoz says her first intergenerational hike will be in October or November of this year. “Providing a space for multigenerational existence in the outdoors can help reconnect people with their family members and learn about their struggles,” she says.
 
Read about more Latine outdoor leaders in Silicon Valley and Santa Cruz in our Latine Leaders Changing the Outdoor Community article on Hilltromper Santa Cruz.
 

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