Luis Avila is the president of Iconico. Previously, Luis served as senior vice president with 270 Strategies. He joined the team after serving as the national program director at Stand for Children, a non-profit grassroots advocacy organization dedicated to improving public school education. Among his accomplishments at Stand for Children was working with parents to mobilize thousands of voters to protect funding and access to high-quality schools for their children. While there, Luis was awarded its National Leadership Award for his work supporting, coaching, and developing organizers around the country.

A longtime community organizer, Luis has held positions such as field organizer in New Mexico for President Obama’s 2008 campaign and field director at Arizona State University’s ADA Parent Education Program – where he oversaw a program that united parents and teachers to transform the educational experiences of children both at home and at school. He was recognized in 2009 by Latino Perspectives Magazine as one of 40 Hispanic Leaders Under 40 for his work in education and parental involvement programs for low-income families, and by Valle del Sol as the Profiles for Success’ Advocate of the Year in 2014 for his efforts in supporting immigrant communities in Arizona.

Born in Culiacan Sinaloa, Mexico, Luis founded a youth publication in Queretaro at the age of 16 to give students a chance to voice their opinions on social and political issues. His passion for giving others a voice eventually brought him to the United States, where he has spent the better part of his career working to improve the quality of life for people in his community by expanding access to quality education.

Luis has worked as a writer, director, and actor in both theater and film, and he hosted radio shows in Phoenix, Arizona, including the Spanish-language Sin Mordaza on 1190 AM and the bilingual youth show El Break on 95.1 FM. He enjoys salsa dancing in his free time and can be found on the weekends reading in coffee shops or finding new movies to watch.