Introducing Ercilia Sahores

The Organic Consumers Association is pleased to announce the appointment of Ercilia Sahores as our new International Director! Please join us in welcoming this committed and charismatic leader as we move forward to carry on our own and Ronnie’s vision for a more organic, regenerative world. We look forward to the many talents and verve that this truly international connector brings as she moves up in our organization to take on her new position as our International Director.

In the past nine years and as part of the Regeneration International team, Ercilia has worked in keeping the regenerative organic standards safe, defending them from corporate greenwashing and takeover. She has an active role at the Conference of the Parties on Biodiversity, Desertification and Climate Change and in identifying and bringing together the emblematic, proven, farmer-based solutions against climate change. She has organized People’s Food Summits and People’s Climate Change Summits in different countries in Latin America and is the main coordinator for Regeneration Internationals’ Latin American partners.

As part of the Vía Orgánica team, Ercilia has set up apiaries at the ranch, and often provides workshops on regenerative and natural beekeeping and the importance of pollination. She has also led the efforts to set up and expand the Billion Agave project, working closely with communities and municipal governments and has an active role in daily activities at the ranch.

As part of OCA’s organizing efforts abroad, Ercilia has launched, coordinated and been involved in campaigns to safeguard organic standards in Mexico and Latin America, she has taken part of the International Monsanto Tribunal and campaigns in Mexico to preserve non-GMO corn and has coordinated South-North efforts to fight against the corporate takeover of our food and health system.

A bit about Ercilia:

Ercilia Sahores, born in Argentina in 1980, was raised in Southern Argentina amid trees, mountains, books, many friends, a loving family, and beehives. When she turned 17, Ercilia moved to Buenos Aires where she graduated with a degree in Political Sciences and International Relations from the Catholic University of Argentina and the University of Buenos Aires.

She was very active in student centers and became involved in self-organized neighborhood committees during and after the harsh times of the December 2001 protests. While in Buenos Aires, Ercilia worked as a translator and professor of cultural studies and local development. She was also assistant professor of Sociology at the school of Political Sciences.

In 2004, Ercilia decided to pack her backpack and head to the United States to start a journey that would eventually take her through Mexico and Cuba. While in the U.S. she lived through hurricane Katrina in New Orleans and learned first-hand about inequalities and civil rights movements in the States.

After over a year of organizing in low-income communities in Louisiana and Florida, with the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), she was hired to start and supervise ACORN’s chapter in Tijuana and Mexico City (Mexico), Santiago de los Caballeros (Dominican Republic), Lima (Perú) and Buenos Aires (Argentina). She also continued other organizing work and attended conferences and organizing drives in the U.S.

In 2009 she pursued studies in adult education and community development at the University of Toronto (Canada).

In 2010, Ercilia was hired as Executive Director at the Center for Global Justice in San Miguel de Allende (Mexico). The Center engages in local community support and outreach to promote and advance initiatives and movements toward social justice, grassroots empowerment and democracy, as well as environmental sustainability.

It was in San Miguel de Allende that Ercilia met Ronnie Cummins and Rose Welch and the Vía Orgánica and Organic Consumers Association team. She was immediately impressed by the work of the organizations that Rose and Ronnie had co-founded and their incredible network of support.

After a couple of years working in organizing for the Project on Organization, Development, Education and Research (PODER) in Mexico City, focusing on corporate transparency and accountability in Latin American countries from a human rights perspective and empowering civil society actors affected by corporate practices, Ercilia decided it was time to move on to her dream job of combining organizing, agriculture, policy and campaigning.

For that reason she joined the Vía Orgánica and Organic Consumers Association team in Mexico in 2014. In 2015, she took part in Regeneration Internationals’ founding meeting, the organization where she would also work as Latin American coordinator and form part of the steering committee.

Ercilia has created countless alliances and networks which she intends to continue growing over the years. With the help of the Organic Consumers Association team and partners, Ercilia is dedicated to continuing and expanding the great work and legacy of Ronnie Cummins.