Deborah Garcia

I met Deborah Garcia at Yollocalli Arts Reach, an organization dedicated to providing after-school arts programming to teens in the Pilsen and Little Village neighborhoods of Chicago. First at Yollocalli and now at Enlace, another local non-profit, Deborah has dedicated a large part of her life to making sure that kids in the community have the opportunity to express themselves in a safe, creative environment. She's graduating with a Master's degree in Arts Administration from the School of the Art Institute this Spring, and her thesis project is an ambitious series of murals that examines the problem of gentrification in the area. If you are feeling overwhelmed by everything that's wrong with the world, this conversation will remind you that there are brilliant people working hard every day all around us to make the future brighter and more peaceful for everyone.