Hi all, my name is Juan Gallegos, and I am the new Director at Protégete in Colorado. When I first started getting involved in the environmental fight, it was as a volunteer for Bold Nebraska. We were fighting the Trans Canada Keystone XL pipeline. This pipeline was treating the quality of the water of the Ogallala Aquifer. For me the fight was very personal, most of my family after immigrating from Mexico settled all along the aquifer. From Amarillo, Texas; to Dodge City, Kansas; to Hastings, Nebraska, my family has settled all along this aquifer. My parents and their siblings, their children, including my brothers, and my nieces and nephews all depend on the water from the aquifer for survival. Everyone drinks that water and their jobs in agriculture are only available thanks to that water.

In protecting our aquifer the work we did at Bold Nebraska was very effective, so much so, that we were able to stop the multinational corporation from putting the Ogallala aquifer at risk of contamination. It also came with perks, I got to meet Willie Nelson as he was supporting our work with a concert, similar to FarmAid.
The pipeline is currently held up in the courts. Although all of that, was as a volunteer and supporter, in the mean time, I was working in organizing folks for immigrant Justice. I was able to strategize and support in winning Driver Licenses for DACA recipients in Nebraska. I then moved to Colorado to organize for immigrant rights with the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition. I was able to advance until I was the Managing Director of the c4 organization. Now I'm the new Director for Protégete at Conservation Colorado.
I am excited to meet with all of you and work together towards a future were we can protect our families from the degradation of our environment. I look forward to connecting with y'all individually. If you need anything from me, feel free to reach out my work email is juan.gallegos@conservationco.org
Welcome to the GreenLatinos Familia! We are excited to meet you and connect with you and your work.
Jessica