Cross-Sector Giving That Benefits Latinos: Marisa Aurora Quiroz
To commemorate Hispanics in Philanthropyâs 33rd year, we honored 33 Latino leaders who inspire as our 2017 HIPGivers. Read the story of Marisa Aurora Quiroz, Senior Program Officer for Environmental Conservation at the International Community Foundation, below.
Marisa Aurora Quiroz builds movements. From the barrio to the boardroom, she was born to lead. She has mastered the art of giving from the heart, and has led a life of service. Itâs in her blood, and it flows like the river near her home in the San Diego Tijuana regionâwhich no border can contain.
Giving comes naturally to me because I grew up with it. We took care of each other, looked out for one another. My grandmother, Aurora Adela Marquez, instilled in us global awarenessâa collective sense of we, not just me. Even though we didnât call it philanthropy, we were living out these values everyday.
A family sense of the collective we has led Marisa to invest her time and energy to directly impact the Latino community.
âLatinos are underrepresented within philanthropy, not because we arenât givers,â she said, âbut because the way we give is not counted. HIPâs mission is changing that.â When told that âLatinoâs donât give,â she co-founded The Latina Giving Circle, a community of women who want to uplift, celebrate and share the philanthropic traditions and values of the Latino community.
Her wide-ranging contributions include serving as a public member of the California Structural Pest Control Board and the University of San Diegoâs Nonprofit and Philanthropic Institute Advisory Board. She also serves on the national boards of the Center for Diversity and the Environment, the Environmental Grantmakers Association, the Kindle Project, and the U.S. International Boundary and Water Commissionâs Citizens Forum.
âI think itâs incredibly important to not assume, because people are not practicing traditional philanthropy, that itâs not happening,â she said. âCommunities move to their own beats. There are unseen eco-systems within neighborhoodsârelationships, bonds, sharing.â
Quiroz views communities with the studied eye of a nonprofit professional who has specialized in the environment. The International Community Foundation, her current institution, promotes funding for nonprofits and causes in Latin America. Sheâs working to conserve extraordinary places like Laguna San Ignacio, one of the last remaining nursing grounds of the Gray Whale in Baja, Mexico. She previously worked for The San Diego Foundation where she launched the Opening the Outdoors Initiative, a program dedicated to increasing green access in San Diego County. Marisa organized and supported outdoor experiences for refugee and immigrant youth, pushed for more parks and open space in neighborhoods where they didnât exist, and she inspired other affiliate foundations to do the same.
Quiroz graduated with a bachelorâs from Mills College, in Oakland, California, and a masterâs in Nonprofit Leadership and Management from the University of San Diego.
To top off the many ways Marisa gives, she is also a certified massage therapist and health educator, who also is specially trained to accompany women and their partners through childbirth. âI am a doula,â she stated, âwho believes that every baby and baby mama can have a loving and peaceful birth experience.â
Quirozâ passion is organic and authentic.
âI like being around people because I pick up on their energy and passion, and I like being part of a community,â Quiroz told The San Diego Union-Tribune in a 2013 interview. âIâm really fueled by love.â
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