The start of the year has brought about new change for the Maryland Chapter of the Sierra Club. Carlo Sanchez has been officially elected as the new chair of the chapter. A former elected official from Prince George's county, he began his journey with the Sierra Club in January 2020 at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. A Maryland native, Carlo has always been active in his community, which is why he was approached by late former Prince George’s County group executive committee member, Sydney Jacobs.
“Sydney Jacobs and her husband were constituents when I was in office. One day she called me and told me that I should join the state chapter excom,” Carlo recalled.
Some of Carlo’s fondest memories were of his parents, immigrants from El Salvador, taking him to lakes and natural places across Maryland. It created a deep appreciation of nature for him, and environmentalism easily became one of his passions. When he became a volunteer with the Sierra Club, Carlo was excited to steer change within the chapter. For him it was especially important to bring in communities often left out of the environmental space into the movement.
He says on this, “We can make headways and take the message into communities that are not part of the movement right now. We can help communities that are affected most by bad policy and environmental impacts. We need to understand that how we treat the planet and our decisions impact others. We don't often think about that. There are many people who are facing the consequences. Organizations like Sierra Club are important because even though the message is difficult, we need to remind folks that everything we do has consequences, even though they may not be affected directly by it yet. That's the beautiful part of my last three years, how many people are concerned for everyone else and the people that are being impacted by environmental decisions. There are other people who have that same feeling and understanding.”
As chair, Carlo is eager to engage with existing and new volunteers and to create more opportunities for younger generations to get involved in environmental causes. We need to also be thinking about future generations, he says. “Seeing what's at stake can help you acknowledge what you might lose. If we can tie these things into people's lives we can accomplish more.” Carlo says his goal is to provide support to make this work easier for the great volunteers at the chapter. He will measure success by the extent to which tools are being provided for individuals to advocate for themselves and their communities. “Our staff and volunteers have done a good job at keeping us in good standing. Further to that, I want to work to make the relationships we have in congress and with the state legislature stronger. We need to continue to be strong allies to partner organizations. These are ways in which we will be able to celebrate a lot more victories and be instrumental in more positive change. We want to be in those rooms when decisions are being made.”
Like former chapter chair Rosa Hance, Carlo holds many hats in his community. He is currently the Assistant Director of Public Safety for the Takoma Park and Silver Spring campus of Montgomery College. Carlo is also a member of the Police Accountability Board for Prince George's County. When he’s not busy changing the world, Carlo enjoys traveling the country with his wife and using his national park pass as much as possible.
We look forward to a new chapter at the Maryland Sierra Club under the leadership of Carlo.