NALAC Announces Karla Aguilar as Development Director

The National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures (NALAC) announces the hiring of Karla Aguilar as the organization's new Development Director. The position will develop and manage diverse research development strategies to fulfill NALAC's mission and vision.

"Karla joins NALAC as a locally respected, nationally connected cultural bearer and leader. Karla's inclusive, dynamic practice of ceremonial arts and culture - power her integrity, values and vision as our Development Director. Her transformative approaches to building community, stewarding resources and indigenizing wealth inspire us with beautiful and potent possibilities," said Alberto Mejia, Deputy Director of NALAC.

Karla Lorena Aguilar has worked to foster social transformation through cultural arts and social justice organizations for two decades. Her approach to social and economic development centers on cultural empowerment as a catalyst for communities to become more cohesive, cooperative, and organized. Making way for creative solutions to social conflicts through culture is a passion.

Previously as the Development Director of American Indians in Texas (AIT) at the Spanish Colonial Missions, Karla's cultural preservation and community development strategy co-generated resources for AIT's restorative programs and services including interrupting the pipeline to prison for youth and families, and applying healing programs that strengthen families by preserving traditional Native American/Indigenous values, while implementing innovative cultural organizing strategies at the grassroots level.

For the last 20 years, Karla has been a practitioner of Nahua-Tolteka Indigenous traditions from Central Mexico and her homeland, El Salvador. Her core sacred purpose is to restore the health and well-being of the land and her people. She's also an adopted member of the Tap Pilam Coahuiltecan Nation since 2017 in the Auteca Paguame clan of families.