Rebecca Concepcion Apostol

Panta Rhea Refuge for Activists Fellow

Alum 2019 | Fellow 2019

Rebecca Concepcion Apostol is the U.S. program director for Oil Change International, spearheading their efforts in the world’s largest oil and gas producer to keep fossil fuels in the ground, end subsidies and finance for fossil fuels, and work for a just transition to a clean energy system that leaves no one behind.

Rebecca has over twenty years of organizing and non-profit management experience. In the past decade, she has focused on building strong, progressive, and politically active communities of color – working with esteemed organizations including Planned Parenthood, APIAVote, and AFL-CIO. Prior to joining Oil Change, Rebecca served as National Organizing Director for Community Outreach Group, LLC, a political consulting firm specialized in canvassing and organizing campaigns for elections and nonprofit advocacy.

During her tenure she oversaw programs to build political engagement with communities of color, led critical Coordinated and Independent Expenditure campaigns (helping oversee an annual budget of up to $13 million), and helped local affiliates in key states develop their political campaigns and organizing programs. Rebecca was honored to contribute her and her family’s stories in A Time to Rise: Collective Memoirs of the Union of Democratic Filipinos (KDP) . She is also a proud graduate of UCLA, Rockwood Leadership Fellowship for a New California, and the New Leaders Council Fellowship.

From Rebecca:

In my life as an activist, I spend most of my time lifting up and amplifying the stories of others – Mesa Refuge allowed me to begin to tell my own. In the silence of my writing shed, I was able to focus on my own voice. The sun moved through the room as I wrote with myself and my echoes. Nature provided a welcoming environment to call in my ancestors, whose protection I felt while writing, healing generational trauma as each story poured out of my overflowing well.

I am grateful for the opportunities that Mesa Refuge gives its residents, and how the space can meet each person with what they need, whether reflection, the warmth of a reading nook, or inspiration to make the next leap in their writing. The creative energy drips from the walls, and you sense the shared community between those lucky enough to have taken shelter in its bright warmth. I left the house renewed and ready to take on the injustices and challenges our communities continue to face.