Interview: María Alejandra, FLAC Chief Co-Creator
María Alejandra talks to the community about a variety of subjects. She shares with us her story with feminist climate justice, her journey from Advocacy Officer to Chief Co-creator, how this new role has changed her and the things she has learned, the good and bad experiences that have shaped her leadership style, and her dream to one day establish a group of queer salsa dancers.
What led you to get involved with feminist climate justice? Was there a particular or many experience(s) in your past that changed your outlook and pushed you to work on issues of gender and the environment?
My views and politics around climate and gender are informed by my background. Growing up in Colombia and being descended from peasants meant that issues of land justice were at the forefront of my upbringing and that, early on, I was exposed to my country's history of civil war and neoliberal policies, which resulted in the massive internal displacement of not only peasant families like mine, but also other land-based, indigenous, and afro-descendant communities.
If you live in a country like Colombia, and you pay attention, it is impossible not to be enraged at the injustice of land concentration. What can be said about a society with a rural-based economy, like ours, that leaves behind the people that grow our food, especially as they endure the heaviest impacts of a warming planet?
The climate crisis is the most transformational event in modern history—everything is changing right in front of us, from human migration to loss of biodiversity to entrenching new economies of mineral exploitation in the deep oceans. To me, it is inevitable not to see the connections between the politics of land justice, displacement, the model of economic development and wealth accumulation, the monopolies of land and culture, and the Global North and Global South dynamics—all of which are the continuation of a colonial paradigm.
My climate justice work has always overlapped with my experience as a young queer person who has befriended, lived, and organized with other queer young feminists. Queer feminist thought informs and nurtures my day-to-day life. For example, my feminist politics become apparent when I pursue the decentralization of power in my personal and work relationships, when I prioritize a collective way of working, and when I welcome diversity of thought, experiences, and identities for myself and with others. So, it became clear early on that something as huge, multi-scalar, complex, and political as global climate justice must be approached with a feminist lens. The solutions and transformations we need to execute to ward off climate collapse need to be holistic and structural rather than siloed. This also means centering the people that have been historically marginalized because they bear the brunt of the impacts of climate change. Therefore, we must challenge power, decision-makers, and the ways decisions have been made up until now. For me, there’s no way to achieve a climate justice future without it being a feminist climate justice future.
How did you become the FLAC’s Chief Co-Creator? What sparked the journey from being at FRIDA to becoming CCC for the FLAC?
The answer to this question is actually two stories that run in parallel. First, there is the story of me finding a nourishing place at the FLC, where I participated as FRIDA’s climate justice advocacy officer—an experience that gave me the chance to hear and learn from people that shared my concerns. At the FLC, I found a space where I could reflect deeply, with others, on issues that mattered to me, and which we seldom discussed at FRIDA because everyone there had a different role than me and, therefore, different priorities. There is so much that is great about FRIDA. It is a youth-led fund that works with and supports young feminists at a global scale, which is rare and immensely important. But the level of relevance it affords to a climate justice perspective didn’t match my deep concerns about the present and the future. Because I understand the depth of the climate crisis, I felt I wasn’t doing enough at FRIDA. Therefore, to elevate and work at the nexus at this moment of such urgency meant I needed to find something that was more aligned with my personal politics. And this happened at a time when the FLC was ready to evolve.
The second story is fueled by my admiration and belief in collective processes of co-creation. There was a moment in Lisbon when we all realized that if we were to align our intentions and our vision, we could collaboratively harness the potential of the community and actually move resources to the nexus in ways that we collectively believe in while practicing what we have learned as we craft it together. I very much admired the building of the FLC’s learning journey and the ongoing process of building community. It takes so long to build relationships of trust and develop a common understanding and language. It took a lot of work and intention from Zoé, Ursula, Ale, Ana, and Sofía to provide a vision for this community. This resulted in some of us having conversations about how the lessons and sharings couldn’t simply stay within single funds or us as individuals; we needed to transition into action.
It became clear that the FLC needed someone to lead and envision this new phase. Back in Lisbon, I expressed a lot of excitement but also hesitation about how the FLC would move forward: it has been a donor-led community for program officers working within foundations, and there is a lot that needs to be structured, worked on, and talked through so they may organize with non-donors and other stakeholders. These concerns arose out of my experience as an activist and organizer who understands the magical yet delicate process of organizing with diverse groups of people. The FLC saw value in that experience. They asked if I wanted to step into that leadership role, and I said yes.
What has the journey as the FLAC’s Chief Co-Creator been like? Have there been challenges? Areas of growth for you as a person? Any fond memories?
It has been an intense, exciting, and challenging journey–in the best ways possible. Stepping into this role, I came with an awareness that I’m relatively new in the world of philanthropy compared to other community members. I have been in places of leadership before, back in TierraActiva while organizing with young people in Colombia, and this has given me skills such as working with joy and executing a vision, valuing diversity, and fostering people’s drive in service of a collective goal. But the FLAC is a different scale, the power each person holds here and the power of each of the places we work at is huge and could have transformative impacts. My past experiences as an activist and organizer makes for an interesting background, but it also leaves me with certain gaps. One of the best things about the FLAC, though, which I've been able to see from my leadership role, is the community's willingness to make this experiment an exciting experience for everyone involved.
Among the challenges I've identified so far, there is the fact that the FLAC is a process that requires creativity, which isn't necessarily something that you sit down and work towards for 8 hours a day. Creativity is sparked, and it can be sparked collectively. Happily, for me, unlocking the creativity of a collective, that is, coming together, crafting an idea, seeing that everyone is reflected in that idea, and being a facilitator for that idea continues to be unbelievably powerful. Another challenge is knowing that even though we’re working very hard at building strong foundations for the FLAC, even though we're trying to take all perspectives into account, and even though we're working from a care-centered perspective, there will be moments when I, and we, will miss some things, and, as the co-creator of this space, I need to be on the lookout for those areas in which we'll make mistakes. I need to be assertive so we can buttress them and build a structure that can get us to a place of effective governance that works for a diverse group of people. Another huge challenge is assembling the learnings about funding at this intersection, bringing these learnings to the FLAC, and doing something different with them. It’s hard, for example, to figure out what we’ll fund. What if we end up funding what everyone else is funding? We need to put our best foot forward and allow ourselves to trust so we can resource ideas that have never been tested or seen before. All of these elements are incredibly challenging but ultimately fulfilling.
A fond memory? There was this moment during the meeting in Mexico, in November, when it began to dawn on me that I was settling into this role. We were in that room–Ursula, Camila, Zoé, Ale, Ana Pecova –and everyone was like, yeah we’ll follow you; we’re accountable to you. And I was like, cool, that’s important, and also I’m gonna need you. I’ll do my best, but also please help me. We’re in this together. That felt really warm, really warm.
What makes a good Chief-Co-Creator? What past experiences have shaped your leadership style and how do you apply these learnings on a day-to-day basis?
I’ve had positive and negative experiences that have taught me a lot. On the negative side, in the past I’ve been led by people who undermined my ideas, the progress I’d made, and the agreements we’d reached. It seemed as if I was inhabiting a space of blurriness, and that made me feel directionless. Based on those experiences, I have made it a priority to work on taking ownership of my decisions and remaining accountable as a leader. It’s imperative to remain aware of the fact that you’re working with people whose ideas hold value, not just to them, but also the collective.
On the positive side, organizing with young people has made me flexible. I try not to take myself too seriously; TierraActiva taught me that it's more important to pay attention to the process than to the outcome. Wherever the FLAC becomes, it’s going to be an exceptional learning experience for all of us. We have amazing ingredients to work with, and if something doesn’t crystallize, it will still be interesting for the individual participants and the collective. Because we have an unbreakable drive to make this happen, whatever happens will be important.
What do you do in your spare time? What kind of music do you listen to? Do you do sports? What sports do you do?
I love having spare time! We should have more of it, everyone, everywhere. I enjoy being by myself a lot. I go out, walk, treat myself to excellent food and coffee, read books... I dedicate a lot of time to taking care of my people—family, personal relationships, friends. Making space to be present and do things we enjoy together is important to me. It is also very important to me to take care of my body. In the past, I’ve done yoga every day, lifted weights (and sewated a lot!) at the gym with a personal trainer. I also learned how to rollerblade (I hope I haven’t forgotten!); and now I just got started with pilates ;) Also, if I could, I’d go dancing salsa every day. I listen to a lot of salsa—old, classic salsa, new salsa, salsa from Puerto Rico, Cuba, the Caribbean diaspora in New York, and salsa from Cali in Colombia. One day I'll have a queer salsa group!