What is AFC+A & What Do We Do

A Latina-founded and -led organization fighting systemic racism in the conservation and creative workspaces, leveraging arts and culture for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) gains. Each year, we serve thousands of BIPOC community members, using culture and the arts as a bridge to connect to conservation and the natural world. We’ve been pioneering this work for 19 years through our three award-winning, flagship programs:

Americas Latino Eco-Festival (ALEF), featuring LUNA, CONGREGATES BIPOC conservation and creative leadership, hosting its 14th edition in April 2026.

Mandel Vilar Press DOCUMENTS the needs of our community by advancing diversity and conservation in the book economy, publishing its 95th title in 2026.

Promotores Verdes Conservation Corps ACTS with and on behalf of BIPOC communities to connect communities to the health services of nature and promote conservation through outdoor recreation, climate literacy, and human-nature health connections.

​ AFC+A’s programs offer bold solutions for racial and economic disparities in conservation and the arts, including:

BIPOC citizens make up close to 40% of the US population but only 8% of environmental organizations (Green 2.0 Report)

Only 4% of what is being published in the United States is from a minority voice/writer. Further, less than 1% of what the average US citizen reads is from a book in translation, compared to most social democracies of Europe which are reading above 33% in translation. (UNESCO Translation Index)