Vamos Outdoor Project Student Policy Intern

Beginning in January 2025, I began working for Vamos Outdoors Project to assist in implementation of an “Advancing Meaningful Engagement” grant received from the Washington State Department of Commerce. I worked under Vamos leadership team member Julian Medina-Schroeder, a graduate of WWU’s Urban Planning program. Under the grant, Vamos is responsible for creating policy recommendations for the City of Bellingham, City of Everson, and City of Nooksack that respond to existing and proposed policies in the city and represent identified interests of Latine communities in/around each city. During the internship duration, Bellingham released their draft Land Use, Housing, and Community Design chapters. Therefore, I performed analysis and provided recommendations on these chapters using community feedback from workshops held by Vamos, Julian’s existing background knowledge from working with Latine communities through Vamos, and alignment with state legislation. Throughout the course of the internship, I engaged with youth and families both by participating in community workshops and assisting with Vamos’ climbing programming at Vital, Bellingham’s bouldering gym. My internship culminated in a memorandum to planning staff and commissioners at the City of Bellingham, which included specific policy recommendations responsive to draft chapter materials.