The Earth & Liberation Fellowship
hosted at East Side Cafe and Community Garden // El Sereno, Los Angeles
Launched Fall 2024 our Earth & Liberation Fellowship is a transformative leadership program designed to empower young adults with lived experience of incarceration and systemic inequity. This 18-week fellowship fosters environmental stewardship, cultural exploration, and urban agriculture skills to cultivate future community leaders.
A Transformational Experience
This four-month rite of passage is rooted in earth connection. Participants cultivate deep relationships with the land, gain knowledge of urban agriculture ecosystems, and explore the intersection of liberation and storytelling. By centering joy, mindfulness, and the power of the garden, this program nurtures leaders equipped to create lasting change in their communities.
Quotes From Our Alumni:
Denise from Cohort 2 shares “So grateful for this community! I'm also feeling so much more grounded and connected to my heritage… This experience has been a bridge for me to reconnect with my roots in a way I didn't expect. Thank you for creating such a sacred space for growth, for teaching me to listen to the Earth. I have been able to share all this with my son and parents and now we have a garden of our own and will continue the practices I have learned.”
Another Cohort 3 Graduate says "Because of this program I have a newfound appreciation for our natural world. It has inspired me to grow my own garden and help in the rebuilding of our green community. Beyond cultivating plants we cultivate resilience amongst ourselves. Additionally, it created a supportive environment for healing and personal growth that I will carry with me through my journey in life."
Others have shared that without this program they would not have::
💕“Reconnected and built a deeper relationship with my mother.”
❤️🩹“Learned how to grieve the loss of my brother in a healthy way, vs only seeking revenge.”
🌄“Understood the connection between our land and my heritage and ancestors.”
🥒“Grown a passion for gardening and feeding my family! Now I’m looking to change my career pathway based on the cultivation skills I’ve learned.”
Environmental Stewardship
Participants engage in hands-on learning, developing essential skills in:
Connection to land and natural elements
Food justice and access to green spaces
Composting and sustainable land stewardship
Biodynamic farming and community gardening
Entrepreneurship and economic sustainability in agriculture
Cultural mythology in plant medicine
Trauma-Informed Life Skills Training
Utilizing a healing-centered approach, the program supports personal growth through:
Leadership development and behavioral awareness
Community connection through creativity and embodiment practices
Financial literacy, relationship-building, and energetic awareness
Co-regulation, ceremony, and capacity-building
Social Justice Education
Participants are equipped with tools to navigate and address systemic challenges, including:
Layers of racism and the impacts of racial capitalism
Food and environmental justice within the framework of systemic inequity
Historical context of mass incarceration and abolitionist perspectives
Advocacy, policy, activism, and community engagement
Intersectionality, queerness, and neurodivergence
Edin Madrid
Edin is a Green Arrow Co-Lab leader who first found his way to our gardens six months after his release from incarceration. He was drawn to the program for the prospects of employment, and to explore something new that stood out in the landscape of reentry organizations in Los Angeles.
“When all I had was my lived experience with the carceral system, Green Arrow gave me a chance by letting me participate in programming, then shadow a teacher, and ultimately helping to empower me as a leader.”
Three years later, he now runs his own garden project—one he envisioned and built himself, and one that’s now a method of healing for other community members.
“Green Arrow gave me an opportunity and avenue to serve my community…I went from blood and spray paint under my nails to healthy soil. I recently lost a close friend and realized my former instinct would have been to get in the car for revenge. Now, it's allowing my feelings to flow, sharing my experiences with my partner, and meditating with eucalyptus oil."
Through mindfulness, gardening and learning how his nervous system worked, he discovered new ways to process emotions and trauma. We are so proud of all the work Edin has put into himself and now the work that he pours back into helping others.
Fellow Spotlights
Raoul Michael Campos
We are proud to spotlight Raoul Michael Campos, a fellow in our Earth and Liberation fellowship whose story embodies Green Arrow CoLab’s mission of healing, transformation, and community empowerment.
Raoul, also known as “Mikey” from La Puente, California, spent 20 years in the prison system after entering as a youth offender. Today, as an ex-lifer, he is redefining his path through creativity, service, and leadership. A tattoo artist by trade and a skilled handyman, Raoul is someone who can do a little bit of everything. He is also a husband, father, and deeply spiritual individual whose love for plants, art, and people shines through in everything he does.
”In the garden, we can plant a plant. We want it to grow really quickly, and that’s just not the case. Everything takes time, and patience, and energy”
We are honored to have Mikey as part of the Green Arrow CoLab family 🌱🫶🏽
Class of 2025
Class of 2024
