Mariana was born and raised in Veracruz, Mexico. From a very early age showed leadership skills and a rebellious spirit, which led her to be interested in social studies. Back in her home city, she decided to start Political Sciences and Policy studies, being involved in local politics and learning the beauty of politics by studying the classics; there she fell in love with Sociology. She started her carrier on Sociology on 2014, and she found herself among the existentialism theories, sharing knowledge with incredible minds, organizing socio-political movements, strengthening her social awareness and developing a sociological lens that helped her see the society as a structural entity that can always be changed. By the end of Mariana’s studies, and almost as a casualty, she discovered Feminism as a social theory, she fell in love again and decided to get more involved on Feminism as a social movement. Her finale work to get a master’s degree was called “Sociological Theories about Feminism” from which she was able to publish an Article on the University Official Magazine titled “Terror Sexual, Violencia Machista y Desaparición Forzada en México” (LPyH, July 2021) She was part of a major social movement called “La Marea Verde”, advocating for Woman’s Sexual Reproductive Rights known through all Latin America. She was keynote speaker on many interuniversity congresses, had several participations on local radio, podcast, and local TV shows, organizing marches and facilitating workshops with and for young woman, youth and even in a Woman’s Detention Center; spreading the word of how Feminism changed her life and empowering other woman by mirroring with them. When the pandemic hit, many things changed around the world, Mariana had lived away from her nuclear family for almost 10 years, and realized that living alone in Mexico, with no opportunities and increasing social violence; it was time to emigrate and to seek a better life and reunite with her family on Albuquerque, NM. Mariana arrived at Duke City in December 2020 and restarted her life from scratch. She faced the hardships of being an immigrant herself, even though she understood theoretically the migration phenomenon; experiencing it on firsthand made her change (again) her perspective about the world. After grieving, adapting to a new system and language, frustration and jobs that did not fill her heart, Mariana finally found UVNR and they found her. Since summer of 2023, she found herself among her peers, people who understood her story and her struggles as a newcomer. Since she started her career has a Social Worker in United States, she understood the big responsibility she had with the Latinx community. With her sociological knowledge and her own immigrant story, she fully committed with Spanish Speakers newcomers. First under the Migrant Assistance Program (MAP), managing an operation at the Airport/Emergency Shelter; assisting individuals that were just released from CBP/ICE detention centers. During that period the increasing flow of newcomers determined the need of a Welcoming Center, therefore, UVNR in collaboration with CABQ starting the first Newcomer Shelter in the State, operation that MAP took over. Thanks to this operation, Mariana and the MAP team were able to serve over 1,100 people in less than 6 months, leading and managing the first Shelter for Asylum Seekers state wise! Along this journey, Mariana was able to deeply engage with the specific needs of people Seeking Asylum in the US, since they are Stateless individuals, the lack of resources available for them as driven Case Workers to double up the work to fill out those gaps. As a result of this work Mariana and the MAP team had the great opportunity to be keynote speakers at Welcoming America Interactive 2024, an international conference that took place in Dallas, Texas, where they shared the experience of how their journey was regarding on offering humane shelter to this specific population. Currently, she works providing direct services to Asylum Seekers at the already existing shelters around the city, she aims for a general awareness about the needs of AS, this implies a collaborative action among the care providers, and delivering hope to those in need for the help. And she’s just starting!

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