Alexandra García

Latinx Partnerships Coordinator

Alexandra García (Alex – she/her/hers) was born and raised along Puerto Rico’s west coast – living in Aguadilla, playing soccer in Mayaguez, and exploring her parents’ farm in Moca. After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Puerto Rico in 2015, she uprooted her life to start anew in central Virginia, pursuing a young career far away from everything and everyone she was close to.

In the following five years, two major themes emerged in Alex’s life: staunch advocacy for diversity and inclusion practices in the workplace, and a deep appreciation for the outdoor spaces of the upper Blue Ridge and Appalachian Mountains region where she found a home away from home. In parallel to developing technically as an engineer, she led a Fortune 500 company-wide Latinx Employee Resource Group for two years and consistently pushed company Human Resources personnel to move the needle in favor of qualified Hispanic/Latinx employment candidates. After work hours, she sought a life of “difficult pursuits” in the outdoors, which to date include solo day hikes of the Grand Canyon Rim to Rim, the White Mountains Presidential Traverse, continuous multi-day climbs of 10+ Colorado “14ers”, and a summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro, among hundreds of other trail miles on her own.

In light of the pandemic travel restrictions and major social unrest across the country last year, Alex decided to merge these two passions in her life and supported The Cairn Project’s “Allies in the Outdoors” fundraiser by section hiking the 108-mile section of the A.T. through Shenandoah National Park. This year, she is excited to continue her advocacy work to support the communities she deeply cares about and hopefully inspire others to pursue a relationship with the outdoors. She is once again raising funds for The Cairn Project in 2021 and is looking forward to working with the ATC as the organization’s new Latinx Partnerships Coordinator.

Alex usually enjoys the outdoors with her dog Mooch and currently resides in Knoxville, TN.