Our Story

In 2020, through Colorado Language Access & Cultural Experts (CLACE), we began working on the Cultural Responsiveness & Inclusion Strategic Plan (CRISP) for Boulder County Parks and Open Space (BCPOS) with the assistance of Trestle Strategy Group. The purpose of CRISP is to help BCPOS add a cultural responsiveness and inclusion lens to ALL that it does, with an initial focus on increasing engagement with the Latinx community. CRISP conducted an extensive literature review with a focus on Latinx demographics, culture, values, preferences, and use of public spaces and the outdoors; outreach and engagement with members of the Latinx community; and a synthesis of their findings.

Throughout our team's work on CRISP, we identified many factors that impede access to these spaces, including limited time, no sense of ownership or belonging, feeling unwelcome, and a simple lack of awareness about certain outdoor opportunities.

Inspired by CRISP research, the founder of CLACE and SHARE, Marina LaGrave, started “Explorando Senderos” in order to remove these barriers to open space and the outdoors.

We explore a new Sendero every Saturday (no exception) from 9 to 11 am during the summer months, and from 12 to 2 pm during the winter months, with over 500 families actively participating. We count kids, parents, and grandparents among our ranks, and our community continues to grow with over 1600 members on our Facebook page!  In addition to Senderos, the group meets once a month at the Junkyard Social Club to eat, engage in arts, culture, and environmental hands-on activities to expand our understanding of the Earth system, climate impact and more.

Explorando Senderos partners with the Boulder County Parks and Open Space Foundation (POSF), the City of Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks department (OSMP), Thorne Nature Experience and Growing Gardens to further develop the initiative and share the model with other communities.

We invite you to join our movement as we continue to co-create and design our future together!

Team

  • Founder

    Marina is the climate equity specialist with Boulder County’s Office of Sustainability, Climate Action and Resilience (OSCAR), the founder of Colorado Language Access and Cultural Experts (CLACE) and of Explorando Senderos de Boulder. She is a U.N. translator and interpreter with over three decades of experience. Through her consulting firm, CLACE, she supports a diverse clientele encompassing government, academic, nonprofit, and private organizations to further the goals of language access, diversity and inclusion, community engagement, intercultural program development, cross-cultural communication, strategic planning, translation, and interpretation.

    Marina is a plant-powered trail runner, a steward of Madre Tierra, and passionate about science, environmental preservation, sustainability, travel, health, and the outdoors. Originally from Venezuela, Marina has spent the last couple of years generating momentum towards the Explorando Senderos movement and guiding most Senderos. She is passionate about justice, equity, diversity, and inclusiveness, and is a serious zero waste and vegan activist. With all of these experiences, she seeks meaningful connections with others, loves to learn about new cultures, and considers herself a lifelong learner. With a big heart for trail running and exploring wild places, she’s always stoked to get out there!

    Marina initiated Explorando Senderos de Boulder in late 2020, amid the COVID crisis, as a way to positively impact Latinx community members who were struggling both physically and mentally during the pandemic.

    In addition, Marina is a board member for the Boulder Public Library Foundation and the Junkyard Social Club. She has also been a Victim’s Advocate for Boulder Police Department since 2000. She lives in Boulder, CO, close to her two kids and five grandchildren.

  • Lead Senderista

    Carlos Valdez is originally from Veracruz, Mexico and has lived in Boulder for 17 years. He has been working at Lucky's Market for 9 years, in the fruit and vegetable department, and feels a connection with nature since the products he works with come from Mother Earth.

    Two years ago, he began to get involved with the community, doing different jobs, he is a community emergency connector, and since the beginning of the pandemic, he shared information and resources from the city and Boulder County and other organizations. He has been involved with the community and has participated in projects such as the Police Master Plan, has supported the Library, and is a member of the advisory committee for the project for the construction of the future CO-119 bicycle path. He currently serves as the human rights commissioner for the city of Boluder where he recently received his appointment.

    For more than a year he began to participate in the Explorando Senderos project where he has become a beloved leader, and has participated in almost the majority of the walks on the trails, which he enjoys in the company of the families that come every Saturday and contact with nature.

    Carlos has been to Conventions, Seminars and Leadership courses, he likes to read, listen to music and go for walks, he is a calm person who likes people a lot, as well as being very observant.

Partners