Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Roxana Pardo Garcia. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Roxana, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

During the pandemic I was working for a local city government and I was witnessing the synergy that was building around mutual aid efforts in my Community – the reality is that I wanted to be in my Comunity, being of service to the Community that I belonged too. Given the uncertainity that we faced spring of 2020, everyone cautioned me against leaving a stable, government job and my health benefits. I felt so stuck, and so sad; so, in my down time, I was volunteering my time and donating funds.

Then one day, I overheard my mom talking to my aunt on the phone.; my aunt was descrbing to my mom how she needed access to food, but that she always hesitated going to a food banks because they didn’t give her the food that she cooked with, or how she would take the food, then regift it to someone else. In that moment, a light bulb went off in my head “why is there not a food bank that gives people the food that they eat?”. In that moment, Alimentando al Pueblo was born. The countries only Latine food system, bank, in the entire country. But I did not know that then.

What I knew in that moment, was that I needed to jump – and upon jumping fulltime into entrepreneaurship and serving my Community – the safety net appeared.

Roxana, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I have been an active participant in my Community since I was 15 years old; my rage, my anger towards not feeling cared for and represented by my Community, city, school district is what was the catalyst to entering my career and profession in the ways in which I have. I identify as a Certified Xingona (badass) first and foremost, as it best encompasses my whole self, my most authentic self. And secondly, I identify as a Cultural worker, because that is what I do, I influence, support, facilitate, guide, the cultural shifts that are so necessary to our collective liberation. Other titles are small business owner, Executive Director, Co-Founder, Visionary in Action, Architect, Artist, creative.

I am so proud of what I have been able to build through and with La Roxay Productions. La Roxay Productions is a consulting agency that approaches community work through a healing justice framework. Our team curates experiences and shares knowledge that centers Black, Indigenous, Communities of Color, supports community building, brings forth joy, and facilitates healing for those involved. What I started in 2018 as an event production businesses, gave birth to an entire nonprofit that feeds and gives a sense of belonging to hundreds of people in my Community.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

First, I believe that society needs to value artists and creatives and view us as necessary roles in the fight for justice and liberation. Artists and creatives are the ones who have the most active imagination – it is a muscle that we utilize often as we are constantly dreaming and creating. And as Tricia Hersey says, our liberation lives in our ability to imagine. Then, we need to get paid in accordance to our value and role in society, and our futures.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

I get to do what I want! haha when people ask me what I do for a living, I love responding with “Whatever I want” – my work is incredibly fluid and intutitive. I get to mirror the ebbs and flows of my personal life, into the profesional. I get to come up with an idea and then “boom” – materalize it. and that is so awesome. To be in a constant state of creation.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.laroxay.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/laroxayp/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/laroxay
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/roxana-pardo-garcia-82b0b968/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@laroxayproductions1122

Image Credits

Leo Carmona
Gracie Peña
Michael B Maine