Hello!

I’m Andrea Vela Alarcón (she/her/ella) a brown settler in Tsi T’karonto and originally from the Abya Yala rainforest territory, currently known as the Peruvian Amazon. I work through many roles and mediums, all mattering the same, but each with their own complex ethical and technical entanglements.

I’m a community educator rooting my practice in anti-colonial approaches and feminist care ethics to facilitate spaces of critical conversations on ecological survival. I’ve been working with communities for over ten years, using popular education and cultural production, particularly visual media and storytelling. Through my work, I collaborate with communities in the crafting of stories that center refusal and resistance to the logics of extractive capitalism. Recognizing the often emotional and physical tax of environmental justice work, her creative encounters and workshops prioritize moments of joy, play and care.

I hold an MA in Adult Education and Community Development with a specialization in Women and Gender Studies from the University of Toronto and I’m currently working on a PhD in Communication, New Media and Cultural Studies from McMaster University. My research and creative work aim to unsettle the meta-narratives driving the colonial, patriarchal and capitalist logics of extraction.

I have been working as an illustrator for the past five years, collaborating with organizations and projects to create playful imagery. You can check my commercial work at isallegra.com or @its.allegra.