Her Story
About Ana
Ana Rosa serves as the statewide organizer and coordinator for a coalition of seven organizations focused on addressing climate change and its effects on working-class Black, Indigenous, and people of color communities. She has dedicated 28 years to social justice work across labor movements, educational access, and environmental justice, beginning in 1998 as a student at UC Santa Barbara. There, she completed a double major in Global and International Studies with a socioeconomic and political emphasis and a focus on Latin America, alongside Chicana/Chicano Studies, followed by an executive leadership program at Harvard Kennedy School. Rosa attributes her success to never giving up hope, her faith in the Creator and in people's ability to drive change, noting that seeing the impact of organizing becomes addictive. She emphasizes the importance of boundaries and protecting one's peace, lessons she learned later in life, and highlights opportunities to reshape systems by centering communities amid current challenges like federal policies excluding immigrant groups. In her personal life, she is a mother who enjoys swing dancing and previously served as mayor of her hometown, where she helped double green space through community-driven park projects.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Ana
01What do you attribute your success to?
Never giving up hope. I have a lot of faith, and I really believe in not only our Creator, but people, and being able to create the change that they would like to see in the world. I've been organizing since I was young, and once you see how you can make change, it's kind of addicting.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Something that I have definitely ingrained in young women that I've mentored in the past is boundaries. And unfortunately for me, I had to learn it way too late, probably until I was in my 40s that I really understand the importance of boundary setting. And kind of protecting your peace, because you can't really help anybody else unless you are doing okay.
03What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
People are very challenged by the leadership at the federal government level, because it is very exclusive of immigrant communities... Right now, we're really trying to defend our neighbors... On opportunities: We're seeing a lot of the systems collapsing... and there's a big opportunity right now to reshape the world as we would like to see it, where we really center communities first.
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