Albino Garcia
Chicano/Native activist Albino Garcia founded the grassroots organization La Plazita Institute located in Albuquerque, New Mexico in 2004. He is a Kellogg Fellow and Ceremonial Chief in the Lakota tradition. Mr. Garcia is of Apache and Chichimeca heritage. He grew up in Chicago and is no stranger to the streets; his background closely mirrors that of the populations that La Plazita Institute serves. He has done extensive healing work with youth, veterans, and gang members. His leadership style is grounded in traditional culture, and he is known and respected for approaching challenging situations with creativity, honesty, inclusiveness, and innovation. His accomplishments include establishing the award winning New School in Watsonville, California, which provided a successful educational context for gang affiliated youth. Albino describes his passion as “more like a spiritual mission: to make life more manageable for people.”
