Ernesto S. Vargas – National Director of Chispa. Ernesto joined LCV and LCVEF in November 2014. Chispa is a program aimed at building the voice and leadership of Latino families and leaders in the fight against climate change. Today Chispa programs are operating in Arizona, Nevada, Colorado, Connecticut, New Mexico and Maryland. He was born in Mexico City and migrated to the US in 2008. Since then, he has been organizing with the Latino community on immigration, labor rights and civic engagement. Ernesto worked with SEIU and Change to Win to organize low-wage workers. He led several labor strikes on federal buildings, which moved President Obama to sign an executive order raising wages for federal contract workers. Prior to joining LCV and LCVEF, Ernesto was the Field Director for Rescatemos Nuevo León, the first campaign launched in Mexico to elect independent progressive candidates. Ernesto holds a Bachelor’s degree in Philosophy and Latin-American Literature from Universidad de las Américas, Puebla.
