“Be transformed by your commitment to climate justice” – A Career Conversation with Mario Trigueros

In this video, Mario Trigueros discusses his work as the Strategy Manager for Pachamama Alliance, a San Francisco-based nonprofit that delivers transformative educational workshops and advocates for Indigenous rights and the rights of nature. Speaking with Center for Climate Justice Program Manager Remy Franklin, Mario discusses how he spends his work days, how he got into this work, and what climate justice means to him.

If you’re interested in a career similar to Mario’s, here’s a word of advice from his interview:

“I welcome you to think that there isn’t a plan you can put in place that will have you achieve all of your goals…. It’s a lifelong journey, but there are two things that really help. One is to trust that it will be a circuitous journey. You will do all kinds of things. You might wait tables. You might take a corporate job. You might work in finance. It probably won’t be linear, and it will take you to places that might surprise you.

The other thing that I’ll say – that brings integrity to that circuitous journey – is to let yourself be transformed by your commitment to climate justice. You have learned that the systems and structures that you were raised in created this mess. You’re probably committed to transforming those systems. If we win, we will be in charge of those systems, and we have to make sure that we have transformed ourselves in this process. It’s not just an intellectual journey.”