Alex Avila is a Bronx native. Born to Honduran immigrant parents, he is Black, Latino, and indigenous Garifuna. He has been an English professor for seven years. He is the author of nine books in which he explores questions of identity and biculturalism through prose and poetry. He has successfully written and won over 3 million dollars in grants for CBOs in San Bernardino county. Mr. Avila has been a public speaker for over 20 years. He graduated from Cal State University with an MFA in creative writing and specialized in digital storytelling. He was accepted into the Writer’s Workshop at the University of Iowa, one of the country’s most distinguished writing programs, where he studied Advanced Poetics. Mr. Avila attended the University Of Iowa in 2006 on a full scholarship in the department of social work. For almost twenty-five years, he has worked with community organizations on housing, immigration, workforce access, and access to higher education. Alex is a member of the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi, the Golden Key International Honor Society, and the Sigma Tau Delta English Honor Society.
Avila co-founded and supported several organizations during the COVID-19 closure, including the Black Brown Economic Empowerment Partnership (The BEEP), the Black Brown Collective (BBC), the Inland Empire Multicultural Collective (MCC), and JUST SB. He worked on writing, coordinating, and creating the JUST SB coalition of nine organizations that received approximately $3 million from the Irvine Foundation to establish the People’s Plan, a community workforce model. The BEEP applied for a $20 million Kellogg Racial Equity grant in 2021, advanced to the final round, and was narrowly denied by a few points. MCC is a collaboration of Native American Tribes, Asian Pacific Islanders, Black Organizations, Latinx, and LGBTQ communities dedicated to addressing the economy, food desert, healthcare, housing, environment, and education disparities. MCC is currently meeting with funders, industries, and philanthropists to secure funding for the years 2023 to 2025. Mr. Avila supported the IEGO platform for several years and helped them secure over $20 million from the Governor’s $600 million California Jobs First initiative.
College Career and Beyond, Parents Are Cool Podcast, Black Talk Series, Black Brown Economic Empowerment Podcast, and The Fellas are among the five podcasts he has created and produced. These podcasts were created as a form of outreach to educate, empower, and provide resources to communities that lack access to vital information that could improve their quality of life.
Mr. Avila has worked with Rickerby Hinds, playwright and professor from the University of California, Riverside as a co-writer for Buckworld One, Uncovered: A Pageant of Hip Hop Masters,and Uncovered 2. He also worked with Maura Townsend on Project 21Dance. Mr. Avila has authored Nina Simone Tribute, Katrina Dedication poetry and Black History Civil Rights poetry, dance performances, and also performed with Rev. Bronica Martindal’s The Last Emancipation.
In 2014, he was a featured performer at Long Beach, California’s Latino Health Equity Conference. Alex presented at the American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education’s annual conference in 2014 and 2016. (AAHHE). He has presented many times at the PAMLA conference on digital literary production and creative writing. Alex Avila is an activist for social justice who has organized and worked with communities on problems such as homelessness, HIV/AIDS, immigration, health, educational and economic inequalities, youth programs, public art, and environmental justice. He formerly worked as an editor at The Pacific Review. Never Say Die (2006, Kirk House Pub., fourth book) is an expression from San Bernardino’s urban kids and members of the Central City Lutheran Mission Church. As Cultural Director for Central City Lutheran Mission, he supervised book projects using poetry, photographs, and graphics, as well as writing workshops. The books offered voice to the young people in his city, where life is precarious and death prowls the streets. Mr. Avila has nine publications to his credit, the most recent of which are Saints of Mary’s Projects (book of poetry and mixed media). His son Lex M. Avila has written and published his first book at the age of four called Lex Adventures: The Lost Lava Rock (children’s book) which could be purchase at Barnes & Noble, Walmart, Target, or any major and small bookstores in the US.
Alex has worked as a teacher for Professor Delgado’s Student and Coyotes: Instruction in Poetry and Prose class, and has filmed a documentary about the experience. Alex is the CEO of a film, photography and social media consulting company called Avila Production. Mr. Avila is the CEO of a grassroots organization called 4e, which launched and assisted with the historical successful recall of elected officials in San Bernardino, California. Alex has worked with youth from juvenile hall in support of their needed academics for graduation.
Mr. Avila is currently a motivational speaker for English Learners in the San Bernardino school district and is an English Professor, Digital Media Arts Professor, grant writer, and podcaster.
