Gabriela works in the Youth Program where she teaches students in middle school and high school how to make systemic change on a local, state, and federal level. The young people she works with are passionate, care for their community, and are provided a safe space for them to engage and make changes they want to see in their communities. She has worked on a variety of different campaigns since working with the Foundation. Some of her biggest accomplishments was being the lead person in gathering over 3,000 signatures to turn into the Kern High School board to express that the community didn’t want teachers to have guns on campus as well as working on the campaign to pass Proposition 30 to get more funding for our schools.

Gabriela became a volunteer when she was 11 years old with the DHF because she realized their focus was to organize communities to improve their lives. She has previously worked on campaigns such as Leticia Perez, Willy Rivera, and Measure J among others. After working on a variety of different campaigns that taught her the importance of door knocking and listening to the community with an open mind in order to work together to make changes. She has always been motivated to fight for immigrant rights because she was raised in a mixed status family. Becoming an advocate for her community has been a tremendous part of her. The students she works with are a constant reminder that we need to work with every generation in order to expand our work.

She loves going to the gym and having a clear mind before coming into work every day in order to have the energy and good mindset.