Shifting Hearts and Minds: Layel Camargo on Cultural Strategy for a Just Future

Layel Camargo (they/them) is a trans and gender non-conforming Yaqui and Mayo cultural strategist, born in the unceded ancestral lands of the Kumeyaay, and indigenous to the Sonoran Desert. For over 15 years, Layel has advanced climate justice at the intersection of storytelling, cultural strategy, art-making, and non profit leadership. They are the co-founder of Shelterwood Collective, an 878-acre forest restoration and land stewardship project, and the founder of Climate Woke, a narrative platform dedicated to climate justice with The Center For Cultural Power. Layel served as an Impact Producer for the acclaimed web series The North Pole, working alongside Executive Producers Rosario Dawson and Movement Generation. They also produced and hosted the podcast Did We Go Too Far?, which explores climate, culture, and collective liberation. They were part of the inaugural fellows for Climate Story Lab with Doc Society and Exposure Labs. In recognition of their work, Layel was named a 2020 Grist Fixer and was co-awarded a Humanitarian Award by the International Association of Sufism. They have done public speaking at institutions such as the University of Montreal, UC Santa Cruz, and the University of Pennsylvania. Layel holds a degree from the University of California, Santa Cruz.