La Plazita Institute
Grants Awarded
The LPI outdoor classroom program aims to connect youth to cultural heritage, agriculture, and environmental stewardship in New Mexico. By facilitating hands-on experiences and community events, participants will develop leadership skills, foster collaboration for environmental conservation, and strengthen relationships that enhance coping abilities and community cohesion.
Our programs for youth and young adults in Albuquerque, South Valley, and nearby tribal lands focus on cultural education, agricultural work, and creative expression to counteract poverty and educational inequities. Integrating traditional knowledge using the Quinto Sol framework, we seek to promote self-identity and community care and impart practical skills through outdoor activities like farming and tree planting. Additional offerings like the Artist Rising Through Expression (ARTE) workshops encourage emotional expression through art and music, while bird watching and other nature-centered activities enhance appreciation for the outdoors. By fostering connections with local land, culture, and community, we strive to equip youth to become sustainable food promoters, land stewards, and agents of environmental responsibility and economic justice.
La Plazita Institute, Inc. (LPI) is a nonprofit organization that uses a comprehensive, holistic and culturally based approach that reflects the philosophy of La Cultura Curâ, which translates in English to Culture Cures. This guiding philosophy informs the approach that we take in our work that is rooted in indigenous values, practices and traditions. We intend to draw from la cultura curâ to support youth, young adults and community to gain a deeper sense of self, connect with one another, strengthen ties to their culture, build leadership skills, and transcend the limitations that may be imposed by the traumatic experiences they have had. The values practices and traditions that are embedded in la cultura curâ have the potential to be transformational in the lives of our participants. Through this approach, everyone at LPI is a leader within and across sector programs and projects. Thereby, we are building the internal leadership capacity of our staff and growing effective leaders through a supportive environment that creates space for each person to be their best self. At LPI, we are the community we serve, 75% of our staff and board live in the zip code where we operate our organization. Many of our employees have lived experience in the criminal justice system, along with licensures, degrees, and street credibility. We are recipients and products of systemic, historical and religious trauma, yet we are models of the change we inspire in others. LPI’s philosophy, along with the framework, emerges from Mexica creation stories, Quinto Sol (i.e., Five Suns). The philosophy and framework are strategic and carve out a path for youth to navigate through multiple worlds, empowering them to engage innumerable social and cultural contexts, without boundaries or borders.