Niria Alicia Garcia

Niria Alicia Garcia (born 1993) is a Xicana environmental activist, human rights advocate, and educator. She is an organizer involved with indigenous-led species restoration efforts in California's Sacramento River watershed.

Early life and education Niria Alicia Garcia was born in Oregon to a family of migrant farmworkers. Her mother is from Michoacán, Mexico, and migrated to the United States in her twenties, living in California before settling in Oregon's Rogue Valley.

Garcia graduated from the University of Oregon with degrees in environmental studies, Latin American studies, and nonprofit administration. As an undergraduate she participated in a study abroad program in Salvador, Brazil, doing field work with favela residents and community leaders. There she witnessed the impact of grassroots campaigns agitating for greater investment in marginalized communities and found role models in their women leaders. This experience inspired her to pursue a career in human rights advocacy and social justice activism.

Garcia went on to study for a masters degree in human rights at Columbia University.

Activism Garcia was one of the organizers of the People's Climate Movement "Rise for Climate, Jobs, and Justice" demonstration at the 2018 Global Climate Action Summit in San Francisco. As part of that action, she and other climate activists interrupted Governor Jerry Brown as he came onstage to give a speech. They voiced demands for an end to new oil and gas drilling contracts in California, and asked Brown to account for the contradiction between his reputation as a political leader on climate issues and his continued support for fossil fuel projects. Garcia was removed from the hall by security, along with two other women.

In 2019 Garcia attended COP25 as the leader of a delegation of indigenous youth affiliated with the advocacy group SustainUS. Other social justice organizations with whom she has worked include Earthjustice, Our Children's Trust, Honor the Earth, Greenaction, Rustic Pathways, Women's Earth Alliance and No More Deaths.

The Run4Salmon helps spread awareness about the Winnemem Wintu Tribe's project to reintroduce winter-run Chinook salmon to the McCloud River, using genetically descended stock that had been shipped to the Rakaia River in New Zealand in the 1940s. The effort is being undertaken in coordination with the Ngai Tahu Maori, the United States Bureau of Reclamation and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Awards and honors Garcia received the 2019 Emerging Leader award from environmental organization GreenLatinos. She was honored as one of the North American Association for Environmental Education's EE 30 Under 30.