Leo Murrieta, Make the Road Nevada’s Outgoing Executive Director, in conversation with Mansi Kathuria and Joshua Clark

Make the Road Nevada is a statewide, member-led nonprofit organization that builds the power of Latine, immigrant, and working-class families, with the goal of improving life for every community in Nevada. The organization was born in the wake of the October 1, 2017 massacre at the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas – the deadliest mass shooting in modern history. In response to this tragic event, the nascent Make the Road Nevada team worked tirelessly to ensure that undocumented immigrants who were impacted received the help and support they needed to heal, including assistance in applying for U visas. The team worked constructively with the Clark County Sheriff’s office to bring impacted immigrant community members’ stories forward and help secure the approval of more than 67 U visa applications. 

He worked for a decade with youth, Latine communities, and LGBTQ+ folks on education equity, public policy, and advocacy before founding MRNV. He is the favorite uncle to his eight smart and wonderful nieces, the husband to an amazing human, and a proud dog dad.

Josh Clark (JC): Leo, we know that Make the Road Nevada (MRNV) was born in a moment of tragedy, and with a clear vision of serving community members who were among the last to receive the rights, justice, or dignity that they deserved. Here we are almost nine years later, and Make the Road NV has grown and evolved in many ways. I want to start with a big-picture question. Thinking about the time since you founded MRNV, what are some of the biggest changes you’ve seen in the community organizing and/or power-building field?  

Leo Murrieta: I think one of the biggest changes is something that’s actually quite nice: There are more people of color in this space now than when I was coming up in organizing. I’ve been doing this work for 19 years. When I started, I was the youngest organizer in the room. I was the only queer person in the room. Multiple times, I was the only brown person in the room. That’s not the case anymore. I think the civic engagement field has seen a shift in thinking, at least on the ground, toward a theory of change that’s about power building. It’s not simply focusing on electoral politics, but using electoral politics as a tactic to build power. And I think that’s been a really, really good change in strategy for the justice movement.

As far as our experience, that of Make the Road, it really wasn't heard of [when I started] to have brown people in the driver's seat, immigrants in the driver's seat, and for those leaders to focus on issues like economic justice. That was typically left to the unions or mostly white organizations. But immigrants, definitely not. One of our first legislative campaigns was in 2019, and we wanted to pass two really heavy lifts: to increase the state's minimum wage and to pass the state's first earned paid sick days law. We built a gigantic coalition of 18 different organizations, most of them organizations of color, of varying sizes and parts of the state. And we fought like hell to make that happen. People didn't really think that we could do it. Even the funder who gave us the money to fight the fight didn't think we could actually do it in one year, in one legislative session!

We did it by focusing on the basics. That’s bringing people into the movement, gaining their trust, and showing them how powerful they are, and how they can shape politics. We mobilized over a thousand moms – like, immigrant moms with babies on their hips. And we had them demanding an increase to the minimum wage and earned paid sick days to take care of their families if they got sick. And we won! We won. We were fighting Democrats to pass this legislation, and it was really interesting, because it wasn't easy.

Leo Murrieta, featured on television speaking to people power and MRNV's work

At that time, MRNV maybe had like 1,500 members. We mobilized almost all of them to the legislature. It was wonderful. And we celebrated a lot of things. We were part of the coalition to initiate and launch the state's Office for New Americans, which was a valuable resource going into the pandemic, to help make sure that immigrants and immigrant workers were taken care of. We were on the forefront in Nevada in this last wave of power building to make sure that immigrant voices, and brown voices, were centered and not excluded in the decisions of power. And we had to bloody some noses of Democrats and Republicans alike, to make sure that they understood that we aren't here in name only.

Make the Road is an organization that's more than just a logo. We represent real people, and those real people will show up, and they will tell you what they think. They will demand that you do better, and they will hold you accountable and shame you if you don't. We've had to do plenty of that over the years. So it's been a fun journey to see where we started and where we are now. One of our members is now secretary of state; our member is a state senator; we have a member on the school board – the fifth largest school board in the country. We have a member in the state assembly. So we are punching above our weight class! And it's immigrants and moms and workers and parents and kids. They're done with being second. They're done being overlooked.

Mansi Kathuria: Leo, like you mentioned, our teams at OBI and MRNV have been working closely with each other for a number of years, most recently as partners on the Bridging for Democracy (B4D) project. But I want to start with one of your first collaborations with OBI: the paper series we commissioned in 2019, called Civic Engagement for Empowerment and Belonging.

At the beginning of the paper that you wrote, you talk about the challenge of funding within election cycles. You wrote: “Seemingly like clockwork, every year and a half, a crop of consultants, funders, and others who determine the course of resources appears to make far-reaching decisions about what voter engagement will look like in the coming electoral cycle. Community organizations in some ways rely on these resources to grow infrastructure, though what is made available to them is consistently outpaced by funds sent to private consultants and paid canvassing vendors whose only goal is to win elections. But that is the topic of another paper!”

This really struck a chord with me. It still feels relevant. We have heard it from partners in the Bridging for Democracy project. Maybe you have heard DeAngelo Bester from the Workers Center for Racial Justice, who always says that long bridging is one way to help get all of us off of what he calls the “electoral hamster wheel.” I'm curious to hear from you how Make the Road has navigated this challenge over the past several years, and how you think about long bridging in relation to this electoral hamster wheel.

"Make the Road leadership is responsive and accountable to a base of real people who we've empowered to understand that they're in the driver's seat of our organization."

Leo: Yeah, I will say: that hamster wheel is alive and well! Very little has changed since 2019 as far as how money gets dealt out. But there has been change in how we've dealt with it at Make the Road.

There's really not any pretty way to say it. Just don't be a sellout! We have been truthful, we have been honest and transparent about who we are and who we're not – what we will do and what we won't do. Make the Road leadership is responsive and accountable to a base of real people who we've empowered to understand that they're in the driver's seat of our organization, and I'm just a title. I'm the leader of this organization, but I am called to do the work that our members require us to do. They say go left, we go left. They say go right, I go right. And it's a beautiful thing when real people are in charge at an institution that wields power, because it's their power that we're wielding.

MRNV has been transparent – we've been us – since the jump. Our motto, our M.O. has not changed. But what has changed is that there's a growing number of funders who just get it. And they themselves have jumped off of the hamster wheel and seen that it's organizations like ours that actually do the work, and see past election day. We see beyond legislative sessions. At Make the Road, we have a 2030 plan; we have a 2040 plan. And we create these things because our liberation does not come on election day. Having funders who get that is critical.

It is important that vulnerable people develop strategies to win long-term power to ensure their safety, and to ensure that their kids, their families, their neighborhoods will be here to experience the prosperity that they're fighting for. So the hamster wheel is going to keep going, but we're not going to go and pretend we're something we're not to get money. We are base builders. We are power builders. We are leaders of directly impacted people, and a base of humans who are responsive, intelligent, and sophisticated in what we do.

Mansi: We often talk about Make the Road NV as a huge success story for B4D and the power of long bridging to transform the civic engagement field. You went from an organization that was primarily organizing in Las Vegas and Reno to hiring a three-person rural organizing team. What impact did long bridging have on Make the Road?

Leo: I think this is one of my proudest moments, and I thank our deputy director, Blanca Macias, for really spearheading this effort. We're a statewide organization. We’ve had offices in Vegas for eight and a half years. We’ve had an office in Reno for four years. And now we have an office in Winnemucca, which is in the north central part of the state. We also now have an organizer in Pahrump. We have members across nine different counties in the state. And we have those members because we've gone to those counties. We've gone to people and organized alongside them. We have learned their stories, we've honored their stories. You can't empower only the urban centers. You have to focus on everyone. This is why we've transitioned to an organization that is urban, suburban, and rural. And I think that's what's really driven us to this new point of leadership where, when Make the Road says something is happening in the rural [areas], [other organizers and advocacy groups] in the state believe it, because they know we are out there, we are organizing there.

We just had an event with like 50 farmworkers in Fallon, NV. No one is doing that! No organizing or civic group has that reach in a rural community. The town of Winnemucca gave us a community center for free because they saw the value in our organizing, in our base building, in the resources we bring into their community. It is dope, and truly, it was because of OBI, through our partnership in Bridging for Democracy. We started with a rural tour. Lalo Montoya was on our team at the time, and he led an expedition up to Elko. From there, we went all across the state.

We did a rural tour – just listening. We were just listening to people. We had a lot of thoughts –  we had assumed a lot. But we went with open ears, and I'm thankful that we did, and we did that off of [long-bridge canvassing] scripts that you all [at OBI] helped us develop. Because it was so important that we went with open arms and open ears. If we hadn't done that, we wouldn't be as successful as we are today. We have a base in those nine counties because of the work that OBI and the B4D project helped us learn how to do. And now, I'm thankful we are building power in urban and rural centers in a way that no one's ever done.

Mansi: It's amazing that people are like, “Oh, the folks at MRNV are people who know what's happening in the rurals” now. That's an incredible place to be.  Do you want to add anything else about how that rural work has shifted the way that MRNV is doing or talking about your work generally?

"[Long-bridge canvassing] really changed our whole perspective on what it means to be a Nevadan and what it means to advocate for our state."

Leo: I can't undersell it. It changed our work. Like in Winnemucca, which is in Humboldt County – they're one of the counties in our state that lost their rural hospital as a result of the “Big Beautiful Bill,” and funding cuts by the [Trump] administration. And the people in Humboldt County struggle for access to healthcare. We didn't think… truthfully, I didn't think that those types of fights were ever going to be in our portfolio of work. But being in Humboldt County, being in Winnemucca has shown that, like, man, we really didn't know this state before. We really didn't know how important it was to be in those spaces until we saw the pain of real people who lost opportunities, who lost access to resources, to life-saving medical care.

So it really changed our whole perspective on what it means to be a Nevadan and what it means to advocate for our state. Because being a person… being abandoned in rural Nevada is tough. It's tough because you are overlooked as a practice; you are systemically overlooked. And when we talk about passing legislation, now that we've been out in the rurals for a few years, we are always, always pulling in our members from all across the state, and addressing legislators on the Republican side. Because they're all represented by Republicans; it's all Republicans there. And when we mobilize people from Winnemucca, from Fallon, from Logandale, from Mesquite, Boulder City, West Wendover, Elko, Dayton… when we have those people call their legislators, these legislators are shocked! They’re shocked that someone in their district, one, is calling them, and two, cares about these things. So for our strategy, and passing state laws, it's allowed us in the two legislative sessions to see wins on a lot of laws – good laws – that were bipartisan.

We’ve had both Republicans and Democrats on almost every single piece of legislation that we've put forward and won. It's been really exciting because it's allowed us to organize in spaces and with people that, truthfully, we never thought we would be. To pass some of our bills, we've partnered up with Americans for Prosperity and the Libre Initiative. These are very strange bedfellows for us. We are the “lefty liberals,” and it's not typical for groups like ours to partner with groups on the political right. But we did it because it was important for the people in Humboldt County and in Nye County and all over rural Nevada. It was important enough for us to team up with people who don’t typically see eye to eye with us in order to get stuff done. Our perspective on power has shifted just by activating our work in rural Nevada. I think if we hadn't done that, we wouldn't truly know what's happening in our state. And that would have been unfortunate, because right now, more than ever, people in rural areas are hurting, and they deserve to be heard. They also deserve to have their pain honored. And they deserve justice.

Mansi: Thank you, Leo. That was really powerful. And amazing that those weeks of canvassing in Elko have been so deeply transformative for the organization.

Leo: One hundred percent, they have.

Mansi: So when we talk about long-bridge canvassing, a lot of times people hear about it, and they say, “Oh yeah, I know that. That sounds like deep canvassing.” Long-bridge canvassing does borrow some of the practices of deep canvassing, but there are also real differences. The key difference is that long-bridge canvassing doesn’t include using persuasion – we’re not trying to move people on a particular issue. What goals do you see for long-bridge conversations when canvassers are out in Elko, or bridging divides in other parts of the state?

Leo: Like I mentioned, we have a deep interest in finding out what's happening on the ground in our state, all across our state. Going into communities without an agenda has opened so many doors for us in rural Nevada. It’s not a secret that being brown and having darker skin than me is not safe in different communities, right? That’s especially true in parts of our state where ICE is allowed to do whatever. Law enforcement isn't necessarily known for being on the side of vulnerable people like us. Still, we knew that going into communities without an agenda would be our best bet – in order to be received well, and in order to make sure that our safety was prioritized.

Our first experience in Elko led to multiple police stops. Our members were stopped and harassed by law enforcement multiple times, and it was a scary experience. We learned a lot very fast. Thankfully, nothing overly bad happened. It was traumatizing for our team to have someone even put in handcuffs, and with the threat of detainment. Because we're immigrants; being detained by law enforcement brings a different level of fear. I'm thankful that it didn't escalate beyond a manageable point. But it really, really reminded us that we have to go in carefully, and we have to go in intentionally to these rural communities. Now we know how to do this. We have the reputation, we have the relationships. It's been a very positive experience.

Over the last few years, being across rural Nevada and going in without an agenda helped us open doors, and helped us, quite frankly, open hearts and minds. Take the example of Winnemucca. It wasn't immigrants there on the city council who said, “Oh yeah, take this old Boys and Girls Club for free for a year.” No, it was through relationships with a conservative city council, conservative county commission, conservative all the things.

"[Long-bridge canvassing has] been really exciting because it's allowed us to organize in spaces and with people that, truthfully, we never thought we would be."

It was because we bridged with people across differences that we were able to gain access to these resources that now we use to mobilize and organize the community in beautiful ways. We've had resource fairs. We've had food pantries. We've had “Ask a Lawyer” and Know Your Rights workshops with dozens and dozens of immigrants and vulnerable people in Winnemucca, in Pahrump. If we had gone in just with our ideas, into rural Nevada, it would not have been safe or sustainable. But because we went in and we trusted OBI's work and the messaging and the strategy, it has been safe enough for us not only to go, but to stay in these rural communities and continue doing the work.

Josh: Thank you, Leo. It's so affirming to hear all of this, in addition to how much we of course value and appreciate you drawing these lessons. Like your stories show, bridging takes preparing as well as you can, yes, but then you do your best, and you learn a whole lot of things, and then you re-prepare the next time.

So, you are departing from MRNV – an organization that you founded. We wanted to hear a little bit about how you came to the conclusion that this was the right time to transition out of your leadership role there. Also, what are the big lessons – whether about bridging or anything else – that you’re taking from your time at MRNV into this next phase?

Leo: Yeah, truthfully, towards the beginning of this year, I knew what was going to happen. I knew exactly how the calendar would look for the next year, or few years. At the beginning of each year, I typically fill the year's calendar and plan things out with my team. But really, after eight and a half years, it felt like I'd done the work. I felt like I had brought the organization to where we have a lot of leaders who are actively working all around me, next to me, under me, and they’re making this organization work.

In reality, if I were to stay, I would be standing in the way of talented people’s leadership. Like my deputy director – another queer immigrant from Mexico, who is a powerful organizer, a single mom, and someone who really gets it. She's way smarter than I am. As someone who’s been the first in a lot of spaces, the last thing I ever want to do is stand between another queer, immigrant of color and their advancement. So I wanted our deputy director to ascend to the executive director role for Make the Road and Make the Road Action, and lead the team, including to electoral victories this November. This year, we've got the secretary of state's race, the governor's race, races all across the state. There are so many different things that a young queer woman of color can hang her hat on as a professional organizer and as a leader. I wanted to make sure that I wasn't standing in the way of that.

I've learned a lot at Make the Road, and I've also affirmed a lot of what I already knew, right? For example, I don't have the power to give anybody anything. I just have the power to show people how powerful they've been the whole time. And that's what MRNV has been about. And I feel like it's fine-tuned my skills and fine-tuned my own expertise on how to help people re-empower themselves and how to understand that power as theirs to wield.

"It was because we bridged with people across differences that we were able to gain access to these resources that now we use to mobilize and organize the community in beautiful ways."

So Make the Road is in a way better place today than it was when it was my husband and I building desks and chairs, and responding in the aftermath of the [Route 91 Harvest Festival] massacre that took place. You know, we started with 120 members who were survivors, and felt like they had no power. And now we have 63,000-plus who are all across the state, in nine different counties. I never imagined we'd be here. I never imagined we'd be this large, this powerful, this beautiful, this diverse. But we did it all the while by staying true to who we are, staying true to our principles of building power for and with people who need it the most. I'm thrilled that I can step away and feel good, and feel confident that this organization is going to be here long after I'm gone.

I've told my members and I've told my staff: I'm being promoted to member. I’ve told them they’ll see me at random committee meetings. I hope they invite me to the marches, invite me to events, because I like free tacos. [laughs] I'm looking forward to being a supporter. I am a big fan of the people of Make the Road. We have thrown a lot of punches and a lot of elbows. We have had to push people out of their seats of power just to make room for us, and to make room for our members, and I am confident that they won't stop doing that.

Josh: I love that – hearing you say, “promoted to a member.” That’s a perfect summation of the philosophy. That's where the power is in Make the Road.

Leo: Well, now I finally get to be in charge! Right? That's where the decision-making resides. Now people will listen to me! [laughs] I'm just kidding.

Mansi: Just congrats first off, on so many amazing victories as you outlined and almost nine years of leading MRNV. You mentioned you’re leaving the organization in Blanca Macias’s very capable hands, and we also adore Blanca and are excited to see her step into this role. Blanca is from West Wendover, one of these smaller rural towns in Nevada, and has been a crucial part of the long-bridging work in rural Nevada. What are you most excited to see from MRNV in this next stage, and from Blanca's leadership?

Leo: Something exciting has been the expansion of our legal program. I never thought we'd be here. Our supervising attorney Christian, he's one of the state's first DACA recipients to be admitted into the private bar, and he's dedicated to the community. And together, we've been doing “Ask an Attorney” and Know Your Rights workshops all across rural Nevada. I am proud of that work, and excited that one of the last things I've gotten off the ground at Make the Road is these legal services.

With Blanca’s leadership, and the team, I know they are going to stay true to the members. And let’s be real – the members won't let them go astray. [laughs] And I think that's great. There aren't a lot of organizations who have this type of safety rails set up, because our members are so involved in what we do, how we do it, when we do it, and why. I think it's beautiful, and it's allowed us to stay true to who we are, even as titles have changed, and as things have gone up, and they've gone down, and they've stayed down, and then we've come back up. All of it is because of our members.

I'm excited to see how Make the Road takes another leadership role in the 2028 presidential elections. Our sister organization, Make the Road Action, was a powerful force behind the victory of Senator [Bernie] Sanders in the 2020 Nevada caucuses. Make the Road Action beat the machine – the members beat the machine. Everyone – everyone – was against us. But we knew and we believed in real power to the people. I'm excited to see what Make the Road and Make the Road Action can do in the next election and policy cycles. Our members are so smart, so innovative, and so strategic.

"I don't have the power to give anybody anything. I just have the power to show people how powerful they've been the whole time. And that's what Make the Road Nevada has been about."

As an organization, we've always been focused on how to improve the quality of life of our members and their families. I want to see Make the Road continue to throw elbows, because, to be frank, the people who control the money, the consulting class who controls who steers the money to whom – they’re still here. We haven't vanquished them, right? But I'm confident that Make the Road and our members will continue building the power necessary to create the tomorrow that we all deserve and that we've all been fighting for. Make the Road is an organization that is critical to the liberation of our gente. I'm excited to see how the membership continues leading and growing, and just being badasses all around.

I'm going to be able to sing MRNV's praises all across the country as my career takes a different direction. I'm going to be sad that I'm not in it. You know, I'm sad now that I'm not going to be in it. But I'm excited. I'm thankful. I'm grateful. Serving as the director of Make the Road for this long – I told my members this and it's true – it's been the honor of my life to be able to lead this organization and to do the work with such beautiful people who are dedicated to building power for them and their families. It’s hard to go, but I’m glad that I’m leaving an organization that is here for the long haul.

Josh: Well, you’ve built it to last.

Leo: Yeah. And it’s going to last. [tears] Sorry. The last thing I’ll say: These are very happy tears. Because I've shared in so many beautiful moments with so many incredible people and if there's one thing I know about Make the Road, it's that we honor the contributions of the people who are dedicated to justice and are dedicated to Make the Road. I'm excited for what they'll do. I'm excited for how much further they'll grow. And truthfully, this state – this state, of all states – needs real people in the driver's seat. It's beyond past time. That's why I think it's great that MRNV is going to be here for the long haul.

Our team, my team – now soon to be former team – are dedicated organizers who are set, hard set on creating that future that we all deserve. There, now stop making me cry!

Josh: This has been really beautiful, Leo. I’m so glad that we made this happen and had this conversation.

Like you said earlier, you don't have the power to change the conditions for people; you have the power to help them see the power that they already have. And I'm sure you have so many memories of that light turning on for so many different people. I hope those memories are ones that light up everything that you do in your next role. Those memories, I imagine, are things you’ll carry with you for the rest of your life. And all of those people will have it with them for the rest of their lives too. They’ll remember that it was you across the table from them, or in the discussion circles, in the meetings; you were part of that important journey they took for themselves.

Leo: Honestly, thank you both. OBI has been there, and I’m so thankful. You all were some of the first supporters who truly believed in our work. And you've stayed true to us, you've stayed committed to us, you've not left us, even when it's hard. I'm thankful to OBI for your dedication, your commitment, and for honoring our work and helping us do it better, helping us expand it, helping us understand how important it is to do this work.

Truly, I think the bridging work that you all have helped us do for years is critical to our success. Since 2018, you all have had our backs. And, you know, as I'm leaving, I'm reflecting back on all the people who've had our backs when it's been hard, and you all have been there since jump. So thank you very much from the bottom of my heart. Thank you for being there for us when there weren't a lot of people there.

Josh: We always believed in you, and we still do. So it hasn’t been hard at all… hasn’t been hard to support you. 

Mansi: Thank you for the years of partnership and we wish you all the best! It's been so great working together and genuinely with every member of your team. We’re looking forward to that partnership continuing, but we’re still here and would love to hear about what’s next for you.

Thank you so much for this conversation. It really was fantastic and so beautiful to hear you reflect on the last almost decade of your work. 

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Editor's note: The ideas expressed in this interview are not necessarily those of the Othering & Belonging Institute or UC Berkeley, but belong to the interviewee.