Carlos Plazola

Carlos Plazola, 1994 Switzer Fellow, began as an environmental justice organizer in 1994. Since then, he has studied and participated in models of enabling social innovation, power redistribution, and grassroots activation through his roles in non-profits, government, and business. His latest organizing efforts to expand equitable access to consciousness-healing traditional plant medicines through the application of swarm intelligence and complex adaptive systems led to legislative changes in 19 cities and two states in three years.

Carlos’ lifetime fascination with the built environment, coupled with predictions that 70% of the world’s populations will live in urban areas by 2050, has led him to focus his latest organizing efforts on pursuing innovative and effective models for creating sustainable and compassionate future cities, including addressing impacts and dynamics resulting from underlying issues of individual and institutionalized trauma, focusing on his hometown of Oakland, CA as the local laboratory for applying theories of change. He also runs a development company focused on urban infill, smart growth, the application of energy innovation, and equitable access to quality housing for all residents and is the founder of the Oakland Builders Alliance (2007) and co-founder of Decriminalize Nature (2019).