Irene Vilar
Founder and Co Publisher @Americas For Conservation The Arts 501c3 Afc A
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WORK HISTORY
Founder and Co Publisher @Americas For Conservation The Arts 501c3 Afc A
Colorado’s MVP is the first and only non-profit publishing initiative in the US advancing both diversity and conservation in publishing. In its 1st five years of operations 20••••20, MVP has published 30 books, received 28 national reviews and 8 book awards.MVP’s mission and fast impact was recognized by the invitation to join Consortium Book Sales and Consortium is considered one of the best national and international book distribution and sales companies. They represent over 90 of the most prestigious independent US publishers including City Lights, Coffee House Press, Open Letter, and Copper Canyon Press.
EDUCATION
Bennington College
Master of Fine Arts, Incomplete
Syracuse University
Literature, Political Science & Religion
SKILLS
ABOUT IRENE VILAR
As the Puerto Rican Founder and CEO of Americas for Conservation, Health + the Arts 501c3 (AFC+A), I lead a nonprofit dedicated to advancing healthy communities through environmental and cultural justice. With over 25 years of experience in the nonprofit sector, I am passionate about promoting diverse and non-segregated workspaces that address the needs and voices of disadvantaged communities in the green and creative economies. Since 2006, AFC+A has been a beacon of change, addressing critical inequities in climate readiness and access to the health services of nature and the arts. Our diverse programming spans from forest bathing wilderness hikes to publishing diverse voices through our Mandel Vilar Press, from environmental justice summits to urban forestry. We meet communities where they are and offer multiple points of entry into learning about and taking action on the inequities that lie at the intersection of environmental and public health. Our efforts have not gone unnoticed, earning us accolades such as the SHIFT 2020 Award and the Colorado Environmental Education Innovation 2018 Award. I am also a Guggenheim Award author, an environmental justice advocate, and a motivational coach. I founded Mandel Vilar Press (MVP), AFC+A’s publishing arm (diversity and conservation in the book industry) with 95 books published as of Fall 2025 and 12 awards. I launched the annual Americas Latino Eco Festival, now in its 14th edition, and Promotores Verdes, community connectors to the health services of nature. I am the recipient of the City of Denver Office of Sustainability Community Builder 2016 Love This Place Award and the 2017 Mayor’s Awards for Excellence in Arts & Culture Imagine 2020. I am a former member of the advisory councils of the Colorado Office of Outdoor Recreation, the City of Denver Office of Sustainability, and the Green Leadership Trust. My books have been translated into six languages and have won the Mind Book of the Year Award, the 2010 IPPY Gold Medal for Best Memoir/Autobiography, and the 12th Latino Book Award for Best Women’s Issues. My writings explore generational and national trauma and have been featured in the cover of The New York Times Arts section, and reviewed in The Washington Post, Los Angeles Time, Forbes, Vogue, NBC News, ABC, among others.I am the proud mother of two Colorado born daughters, a sailor with 50+ Gulf Stream crossings, and an avid long-distance hiker in love with Colorado fourteeners. Born in the coastal town of Arecibo, Puerto Rico, I have been a resident of Colorado since 2003.
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