Luis Avila
Founder, Arizona Latino Leaders In Education (ALL In Education)
Issue Areas: Policy, Advocacy, Leadership Training
Location: Arizona
Project
ALL In Education’s plan is to advance the decision-making influence of Latinos and other communities of color in the education sector. They offer emerging leaders of color access to tools, skills, and resources so they will have greater capacity to identify and execute solutions that will have the greatest impact in their communities. ALL In Education will develop an education policy platform that defines successful schooling for students of color and English learners, educating existing and emerging leaders on the issues that affect students’ lives outside of the school and in communities. With this platform we will support the official launch of ALL in Education, initially providing training and leadership development opportunities to Latinx education leaders and subsequently broadening the work to engage all communities of color in Arizona. With the Boulder Fund’s support, ALL In Education will become Arizona’s first education advocacy group led and created by communities of color.
Biography
Luis’ passion is to collaborate with others to create platforms, spaces and opportunities for empowerment. Migrating in 2000 from Mexico, Luis stayed in the U.S. to attend college, where he developed projects with people involved in arts, politics, and social justice. After 9/11, Arizona and other states became proving grounds for legislation criminalizing undocumented immigrants. Luis and other young organizers from all backgrounds effectively advocated and challenged these harsh policies.
In 2004, he learned about voting rights while registering voters in Jackson, Mississippi as part of the American Freedom Summer program. Traveling the country and working closely with communities under attack, Luis learned that despite the toxicity of their political environments, communities are fierce in the fight for social change. These experiences were crucial when he collaborated with organizers and leaders to advocate for the DREAM Act, fight against SB1070, and challenge Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s discriminatory practices in Arizona. His work with the Obama campaign in 2008 gave him insight on cornerstone aspects of electoral organizing. This knowledge, paired with technologies developed to boost volunteer engagement, are applied now in all his advocacy work. Luis spearheaded Somos América in 2011, the largest immigrant-rights coalition in Arizona and served as Vice Chair of UnidosUS’ Board of Directors (formerly the National Council for La Raza). Luis is a Google NextGen Fellow and serves as Board Chair for TNTP, an organization working to end education inequality. In 2013 Luis joined 270 Strategies, a cutting-edge consulting firm founded by Obama’s field leadership team, where he currently serves as an Advisor. There, he has designed and executed important national advocacy campaigns, created innovative family engagement models with school systems around the country, and coached a new generation of community organizers around the world. In 2016, he served as Nevada’s Democratic Coordinated Campaign Field Director, contributing to major victories in the state legislature, electing the first Latina Senator and delivering the state to Hillary Clinton.