Browse Items (25 total)

Tamara Schlez discusses what drew her from Buenos Aires, Argentina to North Carolina, what initially intrigued her about psychology, and how she obtained her current position as an ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) Coach and Outreach Specialist for El Futuro. Initially joining El Futuro to help launch the ADHD program, Schlez now…

Lilibeth Andrés is the Engagement Coordinator for the Digital Equity Initiative in the NC Farmworker Health Program. Andrés was born in Chapel Hill and raised in Sanford, North Carolina, and remains committed to serving her community by working to increase access to healthcare. In this interview, Andrés reflects on her parents’ and grandparents’…

Leticia Zavala was born in Michoacán, México and moved to the United States with her parents around the age of 6. Zavala is the former Vice President and a longtime organizer with the Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC), one of the country’s oldest and largest agricultural labor unions and the first union to represent migrant H-2A workers on…

Yazmin García Rico is Director of Latinx and Hispanic Policy and Strategy at the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NC DHHS). She recounts her activism during her tenure in college, helping Latinx youth navigate college enrollment and her outreach efforts to connect farmworker communities with healthcare and other resources.…

Luis Olivieri-Robert is Community Relations Analyst for the City of Raleigh, a role through which he has served Latine and migrant communities since moving to North Carolina from his native Puerto Rico in 2002. He recounts his early life, educational experiences, and professional development in Puerto Rico and the continental U.S., having taught at…

Katelyn Robalino is a Community Connections Coordinator for the Affordable Housing and Community Connections Department at the Town of Chapel Hill. She was first interviewed by New Roots in 2013 when she was a sophomore at UNC-Chapel Hill; this 2023 interview is an update on her journey, the various professional roles she has held, and lessons…

Monica Pagnini-Ibarra is a former business owner and family lawyer from Maracay, Venezuela and currently serves as the Client Services Advocate at El Centro Latino in Hickory, North Carolina. Monica begins the interview by sharing what life was like for her and her family living in Maracay, Venezuela and recounts her favorite childhood memories.…

Victor Canales Gamiño is the youth organizing director at Student Action with Farmworkers (SAF) at Duke University. In this interview, he discusses his migration to the United States from Mexico when he was only eight years old, his experiences working with farmworkers, SAF’s mission and initiatives, and he elaborates on the ways in which one can…

Jose Luis Arzola discusses his experience as a migrant in the United States, and his active effort to advocate for and address struggles that the migrant community faces in North Carolina. Arzola reflects how he dreamed of living in the United States ever since he was a child and how he left his life behind in Mexico in order to chase this dream…

Olivia Joyner discusses the community where she grew up in Raleigh, North Carolina. She describes the lack of diversity in her neighborhood, but for her interaction with Hispanic populations through her Spanish-immersion elementary school and volunteering in the clinic her mom worked in. Joyner describes her interest in Mexico and Hispanic culture…