Email: nospina@crpe-ej.org
Natalia Ospina (she/ella) joined CRPE as its Legal Director in February 2024, bringing years of experience in environmental justice issues and community lawyering. Before joining CRPE, Natalia worked as an attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and the California Rural Legal Assistance (CRLA). At NRDC she provided legal and technical support to frontline and environmental justice clients and partners across the U.S. in their fights to address disproportionate environmental impacts and build healthy and thriving communities. During her time at CRLA, Natalia represented farmworkers in the Central Coast in their fights to address wage theft, employment discrimination, sexual harassment, retaliation, and pesticide exposure. Throughout her legal career, Natalia has learned that community power-building must be at the center of all successful legal strategies and is dedicated to centering community organizing in CRPE’s legal advocacy.
Natalia was born in Colombia and grew up in Union County, New Jersey—both places that have deeply shaped her perspectives on racial and environmental justice work, grassroots organizing, and decolonization. She is a graduate of Lewis & Clark Law School and Wellesley College (B.A., Environmental Studies). Outside of CRPE, Natalia is a proud Chiweenie mama and enjoys making art, hiking and reading speculative fiction.