Viridiana Martinez, Director

Viridiana Martinez has been an immigrant youth organizer since 2009. Through the National Immigrant Youth Alliance, she was instrumental in efforts that led to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program in 2012. Viridiana, also, infiltrated Broward Transitional Center to expose the injustices faced by immigrant detainees. In spite of limited funding and resources, she founded the first ever immigrant youth led organization in North Carolina. She has been organizing for years to stop countless deportations across the country. Viridiana believes that directly impacted people must be at the frontlines of any successful campaign. She is currently a DACA recipient.

Daniela Hernández Blanco, Organizer

Daniela Hernȧndez Blanco, 25, from San Josė, Costa Rica, is currently a legal permanent resident. During their senior year of high school, Daniela was denied a scholarship because they did not have a social security number. After school administrators refused to help Daniela appeal the decision, Daniela reached out to local high schools to begin creating a network of support for students in similar situations. Since then, Daniela has worked to supported campaigns led by undocumented youth, including NC Dream Team, to grant in-state tuition to undocumented students and to end the incarceration and deportation of members of their community. As someone who has the privilege of travelling safely across borders, Daniela is compelled to uplift the struggles of those in their community who are unjustly forced into the shadows and center their leadership to support campaigns to stop deportations and incarceration. #DeportMeInstead