A Letter from Dave Garcia, Our New Executive Director

My very first job out of high school was as a YMCA camp counselor. For the first half of my career, I worked my way up through the Y to become a Camp Director. Throughout those early years, I held most every Y position imaginable. One of my favorite roles was as the Adventure Camp Director. My team and I would travel with young adults all over the country, backpacking in the Bighorn Mountains of Wyoming, sea kayaking in the Gulf of Mexico, and exploring the deep reaches of the Great Mammoth Cave system of Kentucky.

I've seen how taking young adults out of their natural everyday environment and surrounding them with nature and a supportive friend group can change lives. I've seen confidence build as young adults worked together to cross rivers in the Rockies and trust develop through supportive conversations around campfires.

After the Y, I turned my attention to the queer rights movement. For the past 15 years, I have held leadership positions at LGBTQ nonprofits across the country. Most recently, I was the Executive Director for Michigan's largest LGBTQ Center, Affirmations.

I also currently serve on several nonprofit boards including the Michigan ACLU, Michigan Humanities Council, and the Unity Fund.

When my contract at Affirmations ended, I wanted to take my time and wait for the right opportunity. As I learned about Garrett's Space and what you all are building, I knew I wanted to be a part of it. I'm confident that my many years of nonprofit executive experience and working with young adults make me a great fit for this exciting role. Garrett's Space is a perfect combination of the first half of my career with the Y and camping and the last half of my career as an Executive Director of nonprofits large and small.

Depression, anxiety and suicidal ideation are deeply personal issues for me. Throughout my life and career, I have lost loved ones to suicide. I have seen depression and suicide take countless queer and straight youth from us far too early. And, as a young gay child who often felt alone and faced mental health challenges myself, I know that support, nature, and friendship can save lives. They saved mine.

I tell you these truths because I want you to know how deeply personal and important this is to me. There is nothing quite like what we are building at Garrett's Space anywhere in the country. I want to help lead a team here at Garrett's Space that will change the world, and I want you to be a part of that. If I've learned anything throughout my years of leading nonprofits, it's that no one person can do it alone. It absolutely takes a community.

I am excited and looking forward to all that we build here together. I hope you will join us and help bring hope to life.

Antonio David Garcia