Our Fellow is a first-generation daughter of Mexican and Guatemalan immigrants. She was born and raised in Bakersfield, CA. Her parents’ strength, resiliency, and desire to dream led her to a Bachelor’s degree from UC Santa Cruz, a Master’s in international relations, and now she is pursuing a law degree at California Western School of Law in San Diego.

Prior to law school, she interned and worked for organizations like the Dolores Huerta Foundation, United Farm Workers Foundation, and ACLU. She also held a legal fellowship with the Central Valley Immigrant Integration Collaborative (CVIIC), where she served 10 rural communities in Fresno, Kern, and Kings counties with information and application assistance for benefits such as naturalization, DACA, and AB 60 driver licenses. Her work in California’s Central Valley – home to agriculture, oil, and prison industries – also opened her eyes. These industries extract billions of dollars on the backs of immigrant working families, but fail to reinvest in the communities that keep them running. Our fellow’s life experience has ignited a desire to help communities facing structural inequalities that reflect her home, family, and community. 

She will spend her summer fellowship with the California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice (CCIJ). She shared, “Ms. Valerie’s legacy, passion and dedication to this work is contagious. I know with all the certainty in the world that I will dedicate my life to helping those most in need. I am honored to work alongside Ms. Valerie’s friends and colleagues as I learn and grow from this experience.”