Staff Bio

Ernesto Somoza joined the Morris K. Udall and Stewart L. Udall Foundation (Udall Foundation) in 2023 as the Parks in Focus® Program Manager. Before that, he served as a public-school teacher for 10 years teaching media arts and serving as the advisor of many student organizations including the Outdoor Adventure Club, Tour De Tucson Cycling Team, Travel, and Esports Clubs. He is a lifelong Tucsonan who loves the outdoors and enjoys building connections between the community, youth, and the outdoors. He was introduced to Parks in Focus® in 2016 when he served as a summer trip leader at the Grand Canyon to lead trips for groups of Arizona youth. It was on those trips that he built deep connections between many of his passions including photography, hiking, camping, and our National Parks. He also served as a Parks in Focus® trip leader in Tucson, Sedona, and Flagstaff in 2017 and 2019 and has volunteered with the program regularly since 2016. He is excited to be leading the Parks in Focus® team. Ernesto holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Photography with a minor in Education.