Why We Exist

Génesis Abreu is a genderqueer person of color with Mayan and Nahuat Pipil Indigenous roots and Salvadoran and Dominican ancestry. They were raised and still live in occupied Shorakapok located in Manhahtaan (Mannahatta) in Lenapehoking, the stolen and unceded traditional lands of the Lenni Lenape people. Today, occupied Shorakapok is referred to as Inwood and Washington Heights in northern Manhattan.

Génesis is a community organizer, educator, and researcher whose work centers on Indigenous and Black self-determination rooted in practices of gender, language, climate, and environmental justice.

They have gained vast experience in community organizing and outreach, youth environmental justice education, and community participatory research, through their work with WE ACT for Environmental Justice, North Brooklyn Neighbors, and the Indigenous Peoples Climate Change Assessment Initiative. In 2015, Génesis was awarded a Fulbright Research Grant to Cusco, Peru, where they worked alongside Quechua Indigenous farmers from the Potato Park to document the cultural, environmental, and economic implications of the climate crisis on potato production.

Génesis has a B.S. in Environmental Science from Marist College and is currently pursuing an M.S. in Environmental Policy and Sustainability Management from The New School.