Griselda (she/her/ella) was born in Oaxaca, Mexico. At a young age she immigrated to the United States and settled in Oxnard, California, surrounded by a hardworking community. Her parents' occupation in strawberry fields led to constant migration. There, she became aware of the labor system that many immigrant people face when arriving in a new country and the challenges of language barriers. Seeing the disparities her community faced led Griselda to give back to the community through volunteering, helping with food distribution, backpack drives, and interpretation assistance at non-profit organizations that sought to advocate for indigenous communities.
Griselda is a first-generation student attending the University of California, Berkeley with a double major in Political Science and Spanish. Seeing her parents' hard work in raising their children to become successful in the academic field inspired her to pursue the legal field to support the community that has motivated her passion for social justice and peace. During her time in UC Berkeley, she has worked at the office of East Bay Sanctuary Covenant, where she supported the DACA team as a fellow. On campus, she has participated in Improving Dreams Equity, Access, and Success (IDEAS) and Chicanx Latinx Student Development Office to support underrepresented communities and advocate for the inclusion of all. Her connection to her background as a member of OaxaCal has been essential to creating a community on campus for students coming from indigenous backgrounds in Oaxaca.
Griselda’s lived experience motivates her to support interpretation services for better research on the conditions of farmworking families and their effect on children. Using her ability to speak Mixteco, Spanish and English, she hopes to support communities and essentially decrease language barriers existing in areas of law. Her commitment to immigrant communities, especially undocumented individuals, fuels her passion to advocate and uplift the voices of those that often go unheard.
For the DreamSF Fellowship, Griselda is placed at Jubilee Immigration Advocates, where she will be working with staff to support immigrant communities. In her role, she will apply law analysis and research to support community members seeking legal support from staff at Jubilee.
Griselda likes to run, explore new places, and spend time with family and friends. Griselda also enjoys spending time at the beach and park.
