Laura Zárate’s love of plants began with her abuelas’ gardens and the aromatic hierbas used by a barrio curandera in Brownsville, Texas. Laura is a bilingual trainer with international experience and founder of two nonprofits. In Paraguay she worked with street children and cofounded a child victim rights organization in 1991. As Arte Sana’s founding executive director, she has organized national bilingual conferences, survivor art exhibits, Spanish language webinars and social media campaigns for ‘advocacy sin fronteras’ outreach efforts since 2001. Her many years of experience addressing trauma and victim rights eventually led to a greater appreciation of the healing power of nature. As a member of the Native Plant Society of Texas since 2019, she has promoted the engagement of diverse communities in native plant conservation, drafted its bilingual Equity, Diversity and Inclusion statement, and its first social media campaign for Texas Native Plant Week. Arte Sana’s new ‘Plantas y Gente’ initiative, she hopes to help communities reconnect with our ancestral relation with plants that date back to the first gardens of the Americas. She is also a native plant photographer and nature-inspired artist who earned a bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of Texas at Austin.