Mauricio Medina

Mauricio Medina has lived in Danby since moving from Caroline, NY in 2018. He lives with his wife of 34 years, and their two children. His son will be starting his first year at Cornell this September and his daughter is in her third year at Bard College. The Medina family is developing a small farm and woodlot on their land to provide fresh food for their family.

Mauricio is employed at TST BOCES as the Energy Management Coordinator where he works closely with regional school administrators to increase energy efficiency within their schools.  He has extensive education and experience in Building Performance and Solar Energy Design. In 2000 he started his own contracting business, installing dozens of off-grid solar electric and solar thermal systems for heating and domestic hot water in WV, PA and NY. Prior to transitioning into solar, he was a carpenter and custom cabinet maker, with over 30 years of experience in residential and small commercial building construction.

Mauricio was two years old when his family left Colombia and settled in New York City. When he was 24, he moved to Maryland and was able to reconnect with his native culture and traditions while living and working with Chief Billy Redwing Tayac of the Piscataway Nation. During the many years he lived with the Tayac family Mauricio was instrumental in the work he accomplished supporting native communities from across the Western Hemisphere in addressing human rights abuses and land rights issues. He assisted numerous Native Leaders and Elders in their efforts to meet with US Government Officials and Representatives in Washington DC, acting in various capacities as guide, organizer, transportation provider and translator (English/Spanish), as needed.

Mauricio maintains a strong connection to the spiritual traditions and teachings that he received while living and working with Native Elders and communities throughout the Americas. These spiritual practices along with the strong foundation in Christian teachings and values he received from his Grandmother, remain an important part of his life.

The experiences he had while working within Native communities has been integral to his  appreciation of how important it is to build and maintain a strong community and to respect all voices within that community. Chief Tayak and other respected Elders showed him by example that true leaders amplify the needs of their community and that a leadership role is taken on as a responsibility, not for personal gain.