Our Story
Nopal officially launched in 2020, but its roots go back to our days as student activists in MEChA at Sacramento State (Stingers up!). That's where we (Nancy and Ricky) met and began building a friendship grounded in Chicana/o/x Studies, community organizing, and a shared commitment to social change.
Over the years, even as we pursued our doctorates together at the University of Utah, we kept talking about bringing that same spirit of grassroots organizing back into our communities.
As educators working with young people, we saw how institutions often made decisions for communities without giving them the power to shape their own futures. We wanted to create the spaces we felt Stockton deserved, where young people could lead, our cultura could thrive, and communities could come together to build collective power.
So we started Nopal Stockton, grounded in the belief that our communities already have the knowledge and power to create change.
Why “Nopal”?
The name itself also carries history. During our college years, “Nopal” was the name of a close-knit group of friends rooted in community, cultura, humor, politics, and care for one another. That spirit of belonging and chosen community became part of the foundation for what we wanted to build in Stockton.
The name Nopal also reflects the cactus itself, a plant that survives, adapts, and nourishes even in harsh conditions. For us, it reflects our communities: resilient, rooted, creative, and capable of sustaining one another.
What started as just an idea between two friends has continued to evolve through relationships with young people, artists, organizers, educators, and community members. Everyone who has worked with Nopal has helped shaped our work, values, projects.
Who we are & why we exist
What We Believe
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Nopal is a youth-led, intergenerational cultural and political education project rooted in Stockton, California. Grounded in Chicana/o/x and Latina/o/x Studies, we work toward social, political, and economic justice through political education, cultural work, and collective action. We create spaces to convivir, build solidarity, and organize across communities, investing in young leadership while honoring the wisdom, history, and power of our broader community.
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We envision a liberated Stockton where communities are connected, resourced, and empowered to shape their own futures. A Stockton where art, culture, education, healing, and collective care are woven into everyday life, and where young people, working-class families, immigrants, queer & trans communities, and communities of color can live with dignity, joy, safety, and belonging.
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Activismo
We believe change happens when communities organize, resist, and build collective power. Our work is rooted in action, accountability, and transformation.
Educación
Political education helps us understand the systems shaping our lives and our responsibility in changing them. Learning is a tool for liberation.
Cultura
Art, storytelling, language, and ancestral knowledge are forms of resistance, healing, and memory. Sin cultura no hay movimiento.
Comunidad
We believe in showing up for one another. Through care, accountability, and collective responsibility, we create the conditions for survival, dignity, and joy.
Theory Of change
We believe transformation begins when people have spaces to gather, reflect, learn, and imagine together. In a city shaped by displacement, inequality, disinvestment, and resilience, we see cultural work and political education as essential to building collective power. Through storytelling, art, healing-centered spaces, community events, and critical conversations, we create opportunities for young people and community members to better understand themselves, their histories, and the systems that shape their lives. As people deepen their sense of belonging, political consciousness, and connection to one another, they become more equipped to participate in civic life, support collective action, and help build community-rooted alternatives grounded in justice, dignity, and self-determination. We believe lasting transformation in Stockton will not come from outside institutions alone, but from communities cultivating the knowledge, relationships, creativity, and power to shape their own futures together.
