Aurora Castillo is a Mexican-American activist and one of the founders of The Mothers of East Los Angeles (MELA). With organized action, she was able to stop the eighth prison of the East L.A. from being built, stop an oil pipeline from running through her community, stop a toxic waste incinerator that was being planned for the East L.A. city of Vernon, and stop a hazardous waste treatment plant close to a high school. With MELA and her activism, companies were brought to justice, environmental responsibility encouraged and others grassroots groups were helped by a series of important legal precedents. Photo credit: Goldman Environmental Prize.
