Rufino Velazquez

Senior Manager of People & Culture

Rufino Velazquez is the Senior Manager of People & Culture at BISC, where he supports organizational culture that reflects the participatory democracy BISC champions externally. He has dedicated his career to building, growing, and supporting mission-driven teams, leading with kindness, levity, and joy.

Rufino brings 15 years of people operations experience, most recently serving as Chief of Staff at Evergreen Action, a climate advocacy group, where he led comprehensive people strategies and organizational development. Previously, he held people operations roles at Clif Bar & Company, Abstract, and Philz Coffee, developing expertise in remote team building, organizational change management, and inclusive workplace cultures. He believes in centering marginalized voices and collaborative decision-making, working to create organizational systems that reflect these values in practice. His goal is to ensure every individual has the resources they need to solve our greatest challenges and thrive.

Based in the Midwest, Rufino has traveled to 47 of the 50 US states and is working toward his goal of riding every Amtrak line. He plays guitar and drums, loves pop-punk music, walkable cities, and light-roast coffee.