Marisa Aguayo: Building Collective Power Through All For Logan and Shelltown Resilience

By Cesar A Reyes

Marisa Aguayo doesn’t lead with titles or clean introductions. She speaks from the place she’s from — Barrio Logan, Shelltown, and the communities that raised her as much as she’s helped organize them.

“My name is Marisa Aguayo,” she says, “and I’m a community organizer and Executive Director of All For Logan. I was born and raised in San Diego, and my work is deeply rooted in Barrio Logan and the surrounding communities.” That root system runs through everything she does as lived experience in neighborhoods where people have always had to organize for themselves to be heard.

In 2024, when devastating floods hit San Diego and swept through parts of her own community, that work became even more immediate. What started as checking on neighbors and helping families recover turned into something larger and more structured. Alongside others, she co-founded Shelltown Resilience — a response born out of necessity, not planning. “Since then,” she shares, “I’ve had the opportunity to advocate for our community at the State Capitol and stand alongside leaders like Dolores Huerta. Everything I do is about building community power and making sure our neighborhoods are seen, supported, and resourced.”

In Barrio Logan, that work shows up in ways that are easy to miss if you’re only passing through, but impossible to miss if you live it. It’s in the rhythm of small businesses staying open against pressure, in murals that hold generations of history, and in events that turn corridors like Logan Avenue into spaces of gathering and memory. Through All For Logan, Marisa helps hold that ecosystem together. “My work in Barrio Logan is centered around cultural preservation, economic development, and community activation,” she explains. “We organize events, support small businesses, and create spaces where culture and community can thrive — from Día de Muertos to ongoing corridor activations along Logan Avenue.”

Still, she resists placing herself at the center of that story. The goal, she says, is not to lead from above but to build structures where leadership already exists. “My role is really about bringing people together and creating systems where the community can lead and sustain itself.”

Barrio Logan has never been static. It is a neighborhood built through resistance, shaped by migration, labor, art, and political struggle. “Barrio Logan has always been a place of resistance, culture, and creativity,” she says. “From the Chicano Park takeover to the murals that tell our stories, this community has fought to exist and be recognized.”

At the same time, she is clear about what threatens that continuity: development pressures, displacement, and the constant negotiation between growth and survival. “What continues to shape Barrio Logan are the people — the artists, the families, the organizers — who continue to protect its identity while pushing it forward.”

That includes space for Queer Xicanx communities. Marisa’s work is also personal, not just organizational. Her understanding of inclusion comes from lived experience inside those intersections. When she speaks about what is often labeled “allyship,” she grounds it in responsibility rather than identity alone. “Being an ally means showing up consistently and with intention,” she says. “It’s about making sure queer voices are included, respected, and safe — not just in conversation, but in the spaces we create and the events we organize. It also means listening, learning, and being willing to advocate, even when it’s uncomfortable.”

For her, visibility is not about being seen once — it’s about being held in the fabric of everyday life. “Visibility means not being silent. It means creating spaces where people feel seen and celebrated, and making sure representation isn’t an afterthought.”

In Barrio Logan, she sees a place where Queer Xicanx expression is already woven into the cultural landscape — through art, community spaces, and gathering points that don’t always announce themselves but are deeply felt. “It’s a place where people can show up as they are, connect with others, and feel part of something bigger.”

When asked to name the thread that ties everything together, she doesn’t hesitate.

“The WORD is Collective,” Marisa Aguayo says. “Because everything I do is about bringing people together — businesses, artists, residents — and building something that is shared, sustainable, and rooted in community. We’re stronger when we move together.”