What kinds of activities were you involved in while you were at Stanford? Did you join clubs or student organizations? What did you study? What were your favorite classes?
I received dual degrees in Chicana/o Studies and Urban Studies. My concentration in Chicana/o Studies was the US-Mexico borderlands and my focus in Urban Studies was community organizations. Most of the activities that I participated in were in some way related to my studies. Some of the organizations that I was most active in were La Familia, an LGBT Latina/o organization, and MEChA, a Latina/o political activist organization. Through my work with La Familia, I co-chaired a statewide Queer Latina/o Youth Conference and helped organize cultural and social activities on campus. My activism with MEChA included working on the 5 cents for fairness campaign with the UFW, educating the campus about the grape boycott and organizing cultural events.
My work inside and outside of the classroom weaved my identity and my passion for social justice. Some of my favorite classes were places where I was allowed to challenge myself intellectually and allowed my own personal identity to be fostered. Luis Fraga's Urban Policy course was one of the courses that allowed me to do just that. The course included a requirement to have an internship in East Palo Alto. We were required to reflect upon our experiences outside of the classroom and apply them to the material presented in the books and articles we were reading. This kind of service-learning experience was incredibly valuable to me in helping to bridge the gap between theory and praxis. I enjoyed this kind of coursework so much that I became a Public Service Scholar with the Haas Center for Public Service and integrated these ideas into my honor thesis.
The other course that I loved was Mexican-Chicano Cultural Perspectives, which I took during my freshman year. The course made me realize that I wanted to major in Chicana/o Studies. In that course I found that I had a passion for the material and I wanted to learn more and more about the subject. The course also gave me a wonderful opportunity to work on my writing and reading skills in Spanish.
When you first started at Stanford, did you have any thoughts about your career plans? If so, what were those thoughts?
When I first got to Stanford I had planned to be an Earth Systems major. My goals at that time were to also go to law school and practice environmental law.
Did those initial ideas change or evolve while you were at Stanford?
After taking a few courses in the field, I realized that I didn't have the passion that I had anticipated in this issue. I followed my passion and decided to major in Chicana/o Studies. My passion for community organizations led me to find Urban Studies. I found myself excited about my courses and the material covered in them.
What did you do with your summers? Did you work? Did you have any interesting experiences? How did you find those experiences?
I interned with the Paso del Norte Public Policy Institute during after my freshman year. The internship was paid for by a CSRE fellowship. The internship brought me back to my hometown of El Paso, Texas to work on transportation policy. This particular internship was very helpful to me in exploring my interests in law school and public policy. During the internship I had the opportunity to learn from and work with lawyers in the county attorney's office. The director of the policy institute had training in public policy. After seeing their work on a day-to-day basis I realized that I didn't like the practice of law.
I realized that I could pursue my goals by going into public policy.
The lawyer I worked with and the Executive Director of the Policy Institute were Stanford alumni from the class of 1978. I found the internship through my contacts in El Paso.
During the spring quarter of my sophomore year I explored my interest in policy further during my experience in Stanford in Washington. During my time in DC, I interned at the National Council of La Raza (NCLR) working on immigration policy. The internship began during the spring and was extended to the summer. I was able to learn from the experience of policy analysts who worked at a national level. The experience taught me more about public policy than I had ever imagined. I was able to go see the Supreme Court Chambers and listen to congressional hearings. I also got the opportunity to talk to people working in the field of public policy. They told me about their experiences at graduate school and their experiences at work.
By the time I was a junior, I decided that I wanted to go to graduate school in public policy. While in DC I had been told about a fellowship for people of color interested in the field of public policy. I applied and was accepted into the program. The fellowship required me to attend Princeton's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs to take courses in economics, statistics and public policy. I gained a great deal of confidence in my skills and ability to enter the field of public policy after this experience.
What was your first job after graduation and what did you have to do to find it?
As the Manager of Programs and Research I had a variety of tasks. I was required to monitor local committees and commissions of the city and county and advocate on behalf of the chamber. I also tracked and monitored legislation at the state and federal level. In preparation for the state and federal legislative system I was tasked with writing up explanations of our positions on issues. I was charged with organizing the state of the city and state of the county address by the mayor and county judge. I was also responsible for coordinating our lobby day in Austin and coordinating other conferences and receptions as they came up. In this experience I had to learn to supervise a research analyst who worked for the department. I didn't expect to meet as many people in local politics as I did. Because of the high profile nature of the job I was able to learn a great deal about local politics and issues affecting the region. Although I learned a lot from this experience I realized that I needed to work in a different field of public policy.
How did your career evolve after that? How did your experiences lead to other opportunities?
After one year with the Chamber of Commerce I began the Masters Program in Public Policy and Urban and Regional Planning at Princeton. I went to graduate school because I needed to gain additional skills in order to further advance my career goals. While at Princeton I worked as a community organizer/researcher for the Housing and Community Development Network of New Jersey. I got this job as a result of a paid summer internship opportunity for graduate students offered by the National Congress for Community and Economic Development (NCCED). I began to explore the field of community development through this job and through the networks I acquired via NCCED. During my job search after graduate school I was open to doing policy work in civil rights or community development. I received an offer from the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington to become their Field Director. The job offered me the opportunity to combine my passion for organizing with my insight from policy school. My previous organizing experiences and work helped prepare me for this position.
What skills/experiences from college were most important in your career development?
I would say that my experiences organizing with student clubs and organizations were some of the most valuable in preparing me for my current job. Through these experiences I learned to build coalitions, deal with conflict and practice my problem- solving skills.
Inside of the classroom my courses that involved service-learning were some of the most useful in approaching situations in my career and understanding my role in various situations better. My public speaking course was very useful in preparing me to handle different situations that I'm often asked to speak at.
Above all, my experiences talking to individuals who had similar career goals helped me figure out what my own goals should be. Meeting new people and hearing about their own journeys has always been very helpful to me.
Any advice for students?
I would recommend that students take advantage of every opportunity that is available to them by attending receptions, dinners, forums, participating in internships, and studying abroad. I took advantage of as many of the wonderful resources that Stanford has to offer and learned an incredible amount from experiencing life through these opportunities. It's through these experiences that you learn to challenge, question and find yourself. If you trust yourself and follow your passions you'll go far.
Can you provide a brief description of the work you do and examples of typical task/projects.
As the Field Director for the ACLU of Washington I guide and support the network of chapters and activists, implementing strategic education and mobilization campaigns in concert with our legal, legislative, and communication staff. I also manage our organizing work on ex-felon voting rights, reproductive freedom, the USA PATRIOT Act, Immigration and Marriage Equality.
In this position I am often asked to speak on a variety of different subjects. I am most frequently asked to talk to groups about ex-felon voting rights in the state of Washington. When I speak I also give people the tools to take action on an issue. In the case of ex-felon voting rights we have been working to pass a bill in the state legislature that would make voting more accessible.
I also provide our chapters and clubs with resources and talking points on a variety of issues. For example, I assist local groups working to pass Anti-PATRIOT Act resolutions at the local level by providing them with talking points and lessons learned in other community.
Much of my work involves building relationships with community organizations to work together on common goals. An example of this is my work as Chair of the Washington Alliance for Reproductive Freedom. In this role I've been working with organizations across the state to develop new goals for the coming year.
Most recently I have been working to respond to immigration sweeps affecting Latinos in the state of Washington. I have worked in coalition with other organizations to develop an extensive Know Your Rights brochure in Spanish and produce a Spanish language Public Service Announcement informing the community of their rights with immigration officials.
Can you provide a brief chronology of your career - probably the major projects or turning points?
2000
Program Manager, Government Relations Division, Greater El Paso Chamber of Commerce. Highlights included organizing: Lobby Day 2001, the State of the County Address, the State of the City address.
2002
Community Organizer/Researcher, Housing and Community Development Network of New Jersey. Highlights included developing a brochure explaining pre-apprenticeship programs in the construction trades.
2003
Field Director, ACLU of Washington
The most memorable moment for me was speaking in front of 1 million people at the March for Women's Lives on behalf of the ACLU.
My organizing work on Marriage Equality really allowed me to take ownership of my position with the organization
How would you define success, in terms of your own career development, and decision-making?
Success in my career means having a passion for the work that I'm doing and knowing that I am helping to make a difference in the world. In my personal decisions I strive to make decisions that I will not regret in the future.
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