Americas for Conservation + the Arts (AFCA) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization in Boulder Colorado. Irene Vilar, an environmental activist and author, founded AFCA in 2007.¹² AFCA is an environmental activist organization that works through two subsidiaries to project its work; the Americas Latino Eco-Festival and the Mandel Vilar Press, the book-publishing arm of AFCA.³

Irene Vilar, executive director of AFCA, is best known for her book Impossible Motherhood, Testimony of an Abortion Addict in which she writes about how she had 15 abortions over a 16 year period.⁴ Notable supporters of the AFCA include the National Resource Defense Council, World Wildlife Fund, One World One Water, The Climate Reality Project, Environmental Defense Fund, Bonfils Stanton Foundation and Audubon Rockies.⁵

Irene Vilar is the granddaughter of Lolita Lebron, a leftist Puerto Rican separatist terrorist.⁶ Lebron was one of four gunmen who entered the United States Capitol shooting automatic pistols at Congressmen yelling, “Viva Puerto Rico libre” in 1954. During the shooting, five U.S. Representatives were wounded. Lebron was later convicted of assault with a dangerous weapon and released by President Jimmy Carter in 1979.⁷⁸

History

In 2007, Irene Vilar founded AFCA to promote “environmental social justice” and conservation through the promotion of the arts.⁹ In 2014, AFCA founded the Americas Latino Eco Festival. In 2015, AFCA founded Mandel Vilar Press as their publishing arm to promote book authors that it claims “have been overlooked by corporate publishers in order to majoritize historically marginalized voices.”¹⁰

Following Hurricane Maria, the AFCA launched the Resilience Project, an initiative to improve food security on the island by providing seeds and training to the local population. ¹¹ The project accepts donations, and is also further supported by the USDA, the US Forest Service, The Conservation Fund, Hispanic Federation, and The Cheesecake Factory. ¹² The Resilience Project expanded shortly after a 6.4 magnitude earthquake struck the island on January 7^th, 2020, with a Resilience Fund being created to assist those who were harmed by the earthquake. ¹³

Americas Latino Eco Festival

The Americas Latin Eco-Festival is an annual environmental conference focused on the Latino community that claims attendance of about 10,000 persons.⁵ The conference is co-sponsored by EarthJustice, GreenLatinos and Conservation Colorado. AFCA holds the Americas Latino Eco Festival as a “Latino-themed” event that is used to assorted left-wing policy views. In an interview about the Americas Latino Eco Festival Irene Vilar said she grew up in a family who, “read the Bible as Marxist text and struggled for social justice.”¹⁴ In another interview Vilar explained that the festival promotes, “clean air (a world without coal), natural foods (no GMOs), and water justice (having access to clean water and not having to pay a corporation for it).”¹⁵ The festival ran a negative balance in 2013 and one in 2014 but secured sponsorships from corporations like Whole Foods, Telemundo, and, Patagonia to assist in the shortfall.

In organizing the event, Irene Vilar felt that there were not enough organizations in Boulder that represented the “brown face” of the country. Another major reason for organizing the festival was to educate “white” communities on environmental issues to validate the Latino community.⁹ According to Irene Vilar, Latino cultures are intrinsically ecological minded due to their indigenous heritage in South America and that “Mother Earth” has been a component of the North American Hemisphere’s Latino culture for 20,000 years.¹⁶

Mandel Vilar Press

AFCA’s other subsidiary, Mandel Vilar Press, publishes books centered on the “green economy,” “green jobs,” post-apocalyptic environmental scenarios and, books about saving butterflies, whales and sea turtles.¹⁰ In order to promote books supposedly passed over by corporate publishers, AFCA created Mandel Vilar Press (MVP) in 2015.¹⁷ One of the books published by MVP, called Oedipus in Brooklyn and Other Stories and written by Blume Lempel, tells the story of a mother who begins an incestuous relationship with her blind son. In another portion of Lempel’s book she writes about, “taboo sexual longings … between two cousins raised in the same home.”¹⁸ The same book, by Lempel, was praised by critics, like Cynthia Ozick (in Lilith magazine),¹⁹ as being, “a splendid surprise … of a brilliantly robust Yiddish American writer.”²⁰

Leadership

As of 2023, Irene Vilar is the founder and executive director for the AFCA. According to the company website, Vilar is listed as having over 20 years of nonprofit experience as well as background as a social and environmental justice advocate, motivational speaker, and author. ²¹

Financials

According to their 2021 990 tax filings, the AFCA’s reported revenue was listed at $452,057, expenses at $273,033, and assets at $343,047. ²²

1. “Irene Vilar – Founder & President.” Americas for Conservation the Arts. Accessed July 30, 2017. http://www.americasforconservation.org/irene-vilar.
2. Vilar, Irene. “Letter from our founder.” Americas for the Conservation the Arts. Accessed July 30, 2017. http://www.americasforconservation.org/letter-from-our-founder.
3. “Americas for Conservation Arts.” Americas for Conservation Arts – Idealist. Accessed July 30, 2017. https://www.idealist.org/en/government/23c701e1508040d493a414f47ad77c0d-americas-for-conservation-arts-boulder.
4. Franzia, Manuel Roig. “Irene Vilar, a mother at last after 15 abortions.” The Washington Post. October 30, 2009. Accessed July 30, 2017. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/29/AR2009102904474.html?sid=ST2009103002365.
5. Vilar, Irene. “Americas Latino Eco Festival III – Climate of Hope.” Stapleton Denver. September 2015. Accessed July 31, 2017. http://www.stapletondenver.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/ALEF_2015_Presentation_Package.pdf.
6. “The Estate of Lolita Lebron.” Americas for Conservation the Arts. Accessed July 30, 2017. http://www.americasforconservation.org/lolita-lebron.
7. Calder, Kelcey. “Virginia shooting: Members of Congress have been targets of attacks in the past.” Los Angeles Times. Accessed July 30, 2017. http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-congressional-attacks-timeline-20170614-htmlstory.html.
8. Martin, Douglas. “Lolita Lebrón, Puerto Rican Nationalist, Dies at 90.” The New York Times. August 02, 2010. Accessed August 01, 2017. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/03/us/03lebron.html
9. Bernard, Sara. “Latino eco-festival hosts big stars, bigger ideas.” Grist. October 16, 2014. Accessed July 30, 2017. http://grist.org/climate-energy/latino-eco-festival-hosts-big-stars-bigger-ideas/.
10. Gul, Rachel Tarlow. “AMERICAS FOR CONSERVATION THE ARTS LAUNCHES PUBLISHING ARM.” Mandel Vilar Press. Accessed July 30, 2017. http://mvpress.org/index.php/buzz/35-news/89-americas-for-conservation-the-arts-launches-publishing-arm.
11. Cuevas, Mayra. “Meet the Puerto Rican Sisterhood Reinventing the Island’s Future after Maria.” CNN. Cable News Network, March 7, 2019. https://www.cnn.com/2018/09/19/us/iyw-puerto-rico-women-rebuild-trnd/index.html.
12. “Resilience Project.” afca. Accessed October 14, 2022. https://www.afcanatura.org/resilience-project.
13. “Morning Update for Puerto Rico – January 7, 2020.” Morning Update for Puerto Rico – January 7, 2020 | U.S. Geological Survey, January 7, 2020. https://www.usgs.gov/special-topics/2020-puerto-rico-earthquakes/news/morning-update-puerto-rico-january-7-2020#:~:text=The%20magnitude%206.4%20earthquake%20was,the%20rest%20of%20the%20island.
14. Harris, Kyle. “Americas Latin Eco-Festival Builds the Latino Environmental Movement.” Westword. May 21, 2016. Accessed August 06, 2017. http://www.westword.com/arts/americas-latin-eco-festival-builds-the-latino-environmental-movement-5787104.
15. Puga, Kristina. “The Latinas behind the Americas Latino Eco-Festival.” Kristina Puga. October 15, 2014. Accessed August 06, 2017. https://kristinapuga.com/2014/09/16/the-latinas-behind-the-americas-latino-eco-festival/.
16. Hannah Miller on Thursday, Dec 4th, 2014. “Latino Cultures Have a “Green” Legacy, Says Festival Founder.” Triple Pundit: People, Planet, Profit. February 07, 2015. Accessed July 30, 2017. http://www.triplepundit.com/2014/12/latino-cultures-inherently-environmentalist-says-festival-founder-irene-vilar/.
17. Americas for Conservation and the Arts. “Americas for Conservation The Arts Launches Publishing Arm.” GlobeNewswire News Room. January 27, 2015. Accessed July 30, 2017. https://globenewswire.com/news-release/2015/01/27/700389/10117259/en/Americas-for-Conservation-The-Arts-Launches-Publishing-Arm.html.
18. McDonough, Yona Zelda’s . “Transgressive in Form and Content.” Lilith Magazine. Accessed July 31, 2017. http://lilith.org/articles/transgressive-in-form-and-content/.
19. “Praise for Oedipus in Brooklyn and Other Stories.” Yermiyahu Ahron Taub. November 19, 2016. Accessed August 06, 2017. https://yataubdotnet.wordpress.com/praise-for-oedipus-in-brooklyn-and-other-stories/.
20. German, Claire. Oedipus in Brooklyn and Other Stories. Accessed July 31, 2017. http://www.dryadpress.com/Oedipus.htm.
21. “Irene Vilar.” Americas for Conservation + the Arts, Accessed September 25, 2023. https://www.afcanatura.org/irene-vilar
22. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). Americas for Conservation + the Arts. 2021. Part I. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/320261204/202203199349329300/full