Rural Advocate Natali Fierros Returns to RAZE and Rural Arizona Action with New Energy and Ready to Write the Next Chapter
- Rural Arizona Engagement (RAZE)
- 15 hours ago
- 6 min read
Natali Fierros, co-founder of Rural Arizona Engagement (RAZE) and Rural Arizona Action, returned to lead both organizations as executive director, marking a new chapter and a stronger commitment to rural communities in Arizona.
Her return comes at a crucial moment. For Natali Fierros, witnessing working families face growing challenges and harmful legislation targeting rural towns was a call to her roots. Additionally, Arizonans have increasingly been energized to show up and protect their communities. That energy and momentum were a sign to Fierros that it was time to return home to help lead this new chapter for rural Arizonans.
While Fierros acknowledges the challenges facing many communities, she is equally focused on embracing hope and joy alongside the work. As she steps back into this leadership role, she reflects on her journey from being a public school educator to grassroots organizing, running for state office, and founding two organizations aimed at strengthening civic participation and advocacy in rural Arizona.
Raised in an Irish-Mexican household as the eldest of three siblings, Fierros credits her upbringing for shaping her leadership and worldview.
“I was lucky enough to be raised close to family, and that really shaped who I am,” she said. “I think my worldview comes from a family that has always been very civically engaged. I was taught from a very young age that involvement in community matters.”
That foundation of beliefs her family had laid for her would later strengthen when Fierros moved to Pinal County. Arriving in the early 2000s, she encountered a rapidly evolving rural community where families were growing, yet infrastructure struggled to keep up.
“What was so fascinating to me was when we first moved out here, there was very little,” she said. “My realtor took us to get deli sandwiches from Fry’s to celebrate signing because that was one of the only places open.”
However, it was her work as an educator in the Florence Unified School District that deepened her understanding of how the challenges in Arizona’s public education system were playing out at the rural level.
Fierros experienced firsthand the strain of under-resourced schools while teaching in overcrowded classrooms, sometimes with around 50 students being squeezed into one classroom.
While these challenges are not unique to rural communities, Fierros saw how their impact can be more pronounced in areas where public schools are often the only options for families.
“I was a product of Arizona public schools, and I had access to fine arts, music, sports, all of it,” she said. “What I was seeing [in Pinal County] was a diminishment of those opportunities.”
That difference became personal for Fierros, both as an educator and as a parent. The issue wasn’t just about what was missing from schools, but also about what could be made possible with greater investment in them.
During the Red for Ed movement in 2018, Fierros decided to run for state senate, driven by both her experience as an educator and as a parent of three school-aged children.
“It felt like we were going backwards,” she said. “That was the catalyst for me wanting to get more involved.”
While running for office alongside co-founder Pablo Correa, Fierros knocked on thousands of doors across rural neighborhoods. What she and Correa kept hearing from community members revealed a deeper issue.
“We knocked on about 10,000 rural doors collectively, and the thing that we would hear at the door repeatedly was, 'This is the first time a candidate has knocked on my door,’ or 'My vote doesn't really matter. Nothing changes,’” Fierros said.
Those conversations led to the founding of RAZE, an organization built to bridge the gap between communities and the decisions that shape their daily lives. Since then, the organization has grown significantly, recently celebrating its sixth anniversary and launching a renewed mission centered on honoring lived experiences, meeting community needs and building collective power in rural Arizona.
Fierros shared that one of the achievements she is most proud of is the growth of the RAZE Leaders youth program. What was once just a vision to give rural youth firsthand exposure to learn more and witness our federal government and institutions has now become a reality.
“When Pablo and I first started RAZE, we thought about how we would love to take these kids to D.C.,” she said. “So when I ran into you all [last year] in D.C. with the group of students, it was like a full circle moment. It surpassed my wildest dreams.”
After stepping away from RAZE and Rural Arizona Action to lead the statewide coalition One Arizona, Fierros now returns with a broader perspective and an energized focus on expanding the organization’s reach. That includes continued work in environmental advocacy and growth into new rural regions.
“We're a beacon for folks who have shared values,” she said. “Regardless of political affiliation, I think that our organizing work speaks to those shared values.”
At the core of that continued expansion is a commitment to community-led organizing. Fierros emphasized that entering new regions requires listening first and investing in local leadership rather than imposing outside solutions.
RAZE and Rural Arizona Action have experienced growth in the number of volunteers and community members involved in advocacy within their towns and at the state level. This type of momentum happens with trusted organizers and a drive to own the solutions to issues impacting local rural communities.
“We understand the deep connection that our community members here in Pinal have, and we knew that that would be the same in every county, and that each county is different, and that people have roots in their county,” said Fierros. “They have a love for where they live, and for an outside group to come in, we understood that our job was to listen first.”
That belief extends to hiring practices, with the organization prioritizing staff who live in and are connected to the communities they serve.
Fierros remains rooted in Pinal County, where she has built her life and raised her children. She describes rural communities as uniquely interconnected, where both successes and challenges are deeply shared and felt.
“There's a certain amount of interconnectedness that is organic in rural spaces,” she said. “I depend on the people around me out here. I've had to create family here. I think that our reliance on one another is maybe a little bit more obvious than in big cities.”
Looking ahead, Fierros envisions a future where rural communities have the resources they need to thrive, such as economic opportunity, access to education and healthcare, and clean air and water, while allowing families to remain in the places they call home.
She also emphasized that the work does not stop there. The mission for RAZE and Rural Arizona Action was to engage communities, and rural Arizonans will continue to be part of the wins and any decision that impacts working families.
“We don't really have the option to sit out,” said Fierros. “We sometimes hear [people say] ‘I don't do politics’, but life is political. It doesn't have to be partisan. Decisions are based on community, and community includes civics, and our collective rising or our collective falling. You might not do politics, but politics is going to do you, so you might as well have an understanding and get involved.”
Even amid political uncertainty, Fierros is focused on ensuring that the work remains grounded in connection and purpose. She emphasizes the importance of embracing joy through ongoing community events and youth program activities as a necessary long-term change.
“I think it's really important that we continue to lean on one another,” she said. “Coming into this role after leading a coalition for two years, that's very top of mind for me is the collective power, not only within our people, but within our organizations as well.”
Fierros returned as executive director in early April and is already working alongside staff, partners and community members to expand their impact across the state.
As RAZE and Rural Arizona Action turn six, teams across the organization are proud to have Fierros lead the work into this new chapter.
To keep up with the work RAZE and Rural Arizona Action are doing in Arizona, you can visit raze.org and ruralazaction.org.
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