Resource Sep 3, 2024

Texas Young Leaders Advocacy Council

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NPCA’s Texas Regional Office created the Texas Young Leaders Advocacy Council (YLAC) as part of NPCA’s strategic effort to engage young people with varying backgrounds, community connections and experiences to develop their voice, and speak up for our parks and expand our core of young advocates and volunteers.

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Young Leaders, Regional Council members, and NPCA staff summited Guadalupe Peak at Guadalupe Mountains National Park. Front: Sofia Lopez and Cristina Ramirez. Back: Lydia Heisel, Karina Miller, Tori Villarreal, Rebecca Hammack, and Cary Dupuy.

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The young professional council is an extension of NPCA’s Texas Regional Council and works with NPCA staff and Regional Council members to educate the community, business organizations and elected officials on the opportunities and challenges facing our national parks. Members of the YLAC are trained to be advocates, spokespersons and ambassadors for NPCA’s work and Texas campaigns. They hone their advocacy skills through trainings such as our Civic Voice Workshop, then use their knowledge and voices to speak up for national parks by reach out to decision-makers. By combining their passions and talents, the YLC will engage new potential advocates within their own communities through interactive outreach to build stronger awareness of the 16 national parks in Texas and how everyone can be an advocate for the natural and cultural sites we all love.

2023-2024 Texas Young Leaders Advocacy Council:

Alexandra Medina Texas Young Leaders Advocacy Council Alexandra Medina is the Archives Clerk at the University of Texas at San Antonio Special Collections and a graduate student in the history program. In 2023, she graduated with a B.A. in history and a minor in museum studies.
Ashton Jeffers Texas Young Leaders Advocacy Council Ashton Jeffers is a current Public History graduate student at St. Mary’s University in San Antonio, TX. Her research interests lie in public spaces and their historic significance to the surrounding community and creating public-facing content to share these stories.
Clara Smartt Texas Young Leaders Advocacy Council Clara Smartt attends Trinity University (Class of 2025) and is double majoring in Environmental Studies and Business with a minor in Spanish. She joined the NPCA Young Leaders Council in the fall of 2023. She has a strong passion for nature and wildlife and hopes to work in sustainability or conservation in the future.
Emily Brieno Texas Young Leaders Advocacy Council Emily Brieno earned her B.S. at Texas A&M University in Agricultural Leadership in Development. She is currently working towards her M.S. in Environmental Science at the University of Texas at San Antonio.
Ruth Hill Texas Young Leaders Advocacy Council Ruth Hill is an undergraduate student at Trinity University, currently majoring in environmental studies with a minor in economics.

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