Caption/Alt Text: A smiling young person poses on top of a mountain
Tell us about yourself. Who are you? Where are you from?
My name is Sharon J. Huerta, originally from San Antonio, Tejas but I have lived in a lot of different places, from Maine, California, Wisconsin, Belize, Ecuador and now Seattle!
I check a couple of boxes: low-income, first-generation college student and a queer WOC (woman of color), and while these identities impact my life, they do not define me in my entirety.
What is the RVC fellowship? How did you find out about it?
Rainier Valley Corps (RVC) Green Pathways Fellowship was born out of the increasing need to:
- Diversify the environmental non-profit sector, and
- Create sustainable/living wage jobs for BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Color) while gaining valuable experience and training.
RVC chooses from a pool of applicants and places them at partner organizations for 2 years. Fellows undergo training and mentorship continuously throughout the fellowship.
I came across the RVC fellowship through the Doris Duke Conservation fellows alumni network and applied during my last semester of undergrad.
What are your favorite experiences in the RVC fellowship?
One experience I have enjoyed with the RVC fellowship was visiting the Keerai farm in Enumclaw, Washington. The family who owns the farm focuses on re-connecting to the land through farming and places focus on growing culturally relevant crops.
It showed me what was possible and how BIPOC folks are connecting with their identities through farming, it was really quite beautiful. They also said that they are moving towards having more families live and farm on the property with them to really build a community.
How are you applying what you are learning at RVC to working at Resource Media?
Throughout the training, we have been given access to a lot of resources and networks of BIPOC leaders, we have learned about the non-profit industrial complex to the different ways of managing time and money.
In terms of applying it to Resource Media, this is my first job out of college and a lot of it is willingness to make mistakes while learning those new skills needed for my job.
Caption/Alt Text: Protestors and participants gathering at a city park
Tell us about the Climate Strike you attended on Sept 20th, 2019.
Seattle Climate Strike was a youth-led walk-out. Thousands walked out of schools, workplaces, and homes to attend the Climate Justice festival at Cal Anderson Park and participated in the march to the rally at City Hall in downtown Seattle. I went with RVC and the other fellows to support Got Green and just to generally check it out.
What did you see or notice?
I saw a lot of people who I assume cared about the environment. While it was a good turnout, there were a lot of white folks and I had a lot of mixed emotions.
I have only been to one other climate justice event and it was the Climate March back in 2017, and this took place in D.C. so there were a lot of people who came from out of state and it was more diverse and on a bigger scale.
Caption/Alt Text: Sharon standing on the far right with Resource Media colleagues among fall foliage
What do you hope to get out of your time at Resource Media?
One skill I would like to practice is grant writing, as well as the process from start to finish of a project. I think a really cool thing is that no one project is the same but there are key elements that happen within those projects and that’s what I’m interested in learning.
What’s on your bucket list of things to do while you’re in Seattle?
I really want to learn cool new spots to hike before it gets too cold, I really enjoy clubbing so I have been trying to see cool spots and food! I love eating, so, discovering more cool restaurants are always on my list!
What’s your favorite animal?
Chickens! I have this deep attachment to them since I was young, my family always had hens and roosters running around the yard and we would collect their eggs. Our whole neighborhood really had them and I would wake up to the sound of roosters and chicks by my window.
What’s your favorite movie?
I am a big fan of El Laberinto Del Fauno (Pan’s Labyrinth), I think I first saw it at a pretty young age and fell in love with the colors and characters, ever since I have been a huge fan of Guillermo del Toro.
If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go?
I have always wanted to travel to Brazil and México, ideally with my family and close friends and spend more than 3 months there.
