IRENE VILAR (Arecibo, Puerto Rico) is a mother, NatureRX enthusiast, author, publisher, environmental and cultural artivist, and founder and executive director of the Colorado and Puerto Rico based environmental nonprofit Americas for Conservation + the Arts 501(c)(3). Vilar has been an active public speaker for multicultural literacy, reproductive and mental health, environmental justice, and access/equity issues in connecting communities to the outdoors. Since the publishing of Vilar’s first book in 1996, she has given numerous academic lectures and workshops on writing, reproductive health, and environmental justice. A Guggenheim Fellow, Vilar is also a member of the Oxford Union Debate Society and a recipient of the City of Denver Office of Sustainability Community Builder 2016 Love This Place Award as well as the 2017 Mayor’s Awards for Excellence in Arts & Culture Imagine 2020