Pastor Moises (Moy) Mendez grew up in a family of Mexican immigrants, where he learned how to turn his experience and culture into a source of inspiration and empowerment. Mendez began his career as a union aerospace machinist. Then pursued a career in business, which led him to ministry.

“As a Christian I believe I should be working towards the common good and I believe that if I work to make the city that I am working with prosperous, then everyone will prosper.”

His experience in business and Christian ministry guide his work with students in two of the top business schools in the country: University of Chicago and Northwestern University, where he teaches the importance of integrating faith and work.

On a search to take a further step into his career as an educator and community leader, Mendez got connected with Hispanic Access through a friend. Being able to contribute and give back to the community is one of Mendez’ greatest desires, and this is reflected through his leadership in Por La Creación.

“Hispanic Access has programs that Latinos would otherwise not have access to,” said Mendez. “Through the biblical narrative, we Christians are meant to cultivate the Earth. We want to understand that there’s fruits that come from our labor, but we should be good stewards and take care of it.”

Though Mendez has been part of Por La Creación for a few months, his contributions have been ground-breaking for the Latino community. Through the program, Mendez has taught groups about conservation and policy change to protect and advocate for God’s creation: The Earth. His leadership has helped Latino professionals develop an understanding for civic engagement and use their voice to change policies and initiatives that impact environmental conservation.

“We really must work on doing our best to empower communities that feel powerless most of the time,” said Mendez. “As a Latino, you come into this country not always feeling welcomed. We won’t complain about the things that we don’t have because we feel like we have no right to make concessions for those things, so we usually just put up with them. But, when you allow people to understand that they have a voice, they can create change.”

Last year, Por La Creación impacted more than 300 people by helping them amplify their voice and preserve land and resources for future generations. Integrating faith in political, social, and environmental change is unheard of in Latino communities, but pastor Mendez plans on changing that.

“There’s nothing more beautiful than to see someone go from feeling powerless to powerful.”