Josue was born in Torreon, Coahuila Mexico and migrated to New Mexico at the age of 10. He grew up in the United States as an undocumented immigrant. The struggles his family & community faced motivated him to get involved in community organizing for immigrant, racial and climate justice. Since the day Josue migrated and took his first glance towards the snowy mountain ranges of northern New Mexico, the mountains became his refuge. The mountains became a sacred place where he could reclaim his humanity regardless of my immigration status. Josue enjoys rock climbing in the alpine, trail running and splitboarding. His journey in the mountains has motivated him to work towards an IFMGA Mountain Guide certification and to continue bringing his community together in the mountains. Josue serves as the Land Base & Outdoor Director for The Semilla Project. He is an AMGA Certified Single Pitch Instructor, Wilderness First Responder and an Apprentice Alpine Guide.

Originally from Mazatlan, Mexico, Aidira is passionate about traveling, dancing, drawing, and climbing. Currently she serves as a snowshoe and climbing instructor with The Semilla Project. She hopes to continue growing in mountaineering to introduce the mountains to her community. She joined The Return expedition to seek for a reconnection to nature and people in central Mexico – as well as take her next big step in mountaineering.

Eleazar was born in Ketchikan, Alaska, the southernmost entrance to Alaska’s famed fjords. Eleazar grew up in northern New Mexico as a first generation with an immigrant Mexican mother. His parents taught him and his brothers to live at their fullest potential and help those around them. Snowboarding, climbing, and exploring the beautiful mountains and wilderness showed Eleazar new ways to love the world he lived in, invariably seeking out adventure. Unfortunately, not everyone has had access to the outdoors and other services the way Eleazar did, and that is why his journey has moved him to work towards helping others get to see and experience the same things he has been able to. Eleazar is currently learning and working towards being an outdoor guide and a community advocate worker to meet the needs of my community in multiple ways through The Semilla Project

Aailinn immigrated to the United States from Mexico when she was very little, therefore she has never had the opportunity to meet her home country. Aailinn considers herself to be very fortunate to have parents who have sacrificed leaving their homeland because of the dream they had for their family to have the opportunity to have a brighter future in the United States. Currently, Aailinn is a DACA recipient – and she hopes to be able to go back to Mexico after 22 years of not seeing her family through The Return Expedition. Currently she is active with the New Mexico Dream Team and a member of The Semilla Project.

Sierra was born and raised in Las Cruces, New Mexico. She is a third generation Mexican American woman, and grew up hiking and camping around New Mexico with her family–spending much of her childhood at a family cabin near the Gila National Forest. As a kid she fell in love with rock climbing, but had no access to it in her hometown. It wasn’t until she moved to Albuquerque to attend the University of New Mexico that she finally started climbing in 2016 and never stopped. In addition to climbing she is an avid Sandia Mountains hiker and loves to backpack in the Gila National forest, following many of her father’s trails. When she isn’t exploring the outdoors, she is working at the local community college or doing community organizing. She envisions a future where all communities and all people of color have equitable access to the resources they need to thrive, including opportunities to develop lifelong connections with the outdoors.