Gathering Waters Conservancy welcomes it’s newest member, Public Ally Marisa Hernández! Marisa joins us as a part of the AmeriCorps program, Public Allies. After a strong interview and selection process she was paired with us.
Marisa will be our Lake Michigan Shoreland Alliance Program Assistant. She will be based in Milwaukee, working out of the offices of the River Revitalization Foundation. She will be communicating with and helping WI land trusts build stronger ties, and traveling around the Lake Michigan basin to actively assist and gain knowledge to assist this coalition.
Marisa was born and raised in Milwaukee where she attended and graduated from Milwaukee High School of the Arts with a specialty in Creative Writing/Journalism. While in high school she was involved with many youth leadership programs including the ACLU of WI and the Urban Ecology Center. Through her work with UEC she traveled to Wyoming and spent time in the Tetons researching the ecosystem and creating a bond with the outdoors.
She also started volunteering every summer at a youth diversity camp administered by the Youth and Womens Center of America, Camp Everytown, where she is now head camp counselor. After graduating she traveled and studied abroad in Argentina for one year where she developed a passion for speaking Spanish and discovering new paths and cultures.
Marisa says, “I am very excited and hopeful about starting my year as an ally with Gathering Waters familiarizing myself with all the natural and scenic wilderness we have here in WI and I will strive to achieve the goals we set and hope to grow and learn all that I can from everyone I encounter. Public Allies is a program that I have been waiting to get involved with and now that I am apart of such a movement I am glad with the outcome so far! I know it will be nothing but hard work and passion that will help lead to me the path of being a committed community builder and leader here in Milwaukee and Wisconsin and I am ready.”
Public Allies’ mission is to advance new leadership to strengthen communities, nonprofits and civic participation. Public Allies is changing the face and practice of leadership in communities across the country by demonstrating our conviction that everyone can lead, and that lasting social change results when citizens of all backgrounds step up, take responsibility, and work together.
Marisa will be working with us until June of 2012 and we are glad to welcome her!
