ALEJANDRA GOMEZ
Executive Director
Alejandra Gomez was born in Pomona, California to immigrant parents. Alejandra became aware of the U.S.’s broken immigration system at a young age when Prop 187 passed in her home state. Prop 187 was an anti-immigration law that targeted undocumented immigrants living in California in the mid-1990s. Alejandra’s father was undocumented at the time, and Prop 187 forced Alejandra’s family to move to Arizona in hopes of escaping the dangers of Prop 187 and other anti-immigrant sentiment.
Alejandra began her career in community organizing in 2007, during the beginning of Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s racially-charged criminal suppression sweeps that targeted immigrant communities. Seeing the fear and harassment her community was experiencing that was reminiscent of her own childhood, Alejandra began working with Maricopa Citizens for Safety and Accountability to organize against Sheriff Arpaio and his unfair practices.
Since her start in organizing, Alejandra has focused her work on immigration rights through large-scale civic engagement efforts to bring out the Latino vote and direct action. Alejandra lives in Phoenix, AZ and holds a B.A. in Political Science from Arizona State University. Alejandra was the Field Manager for the Adios Arpaio campaign that registered over 30,000 Latinos to vote. Rooted in her family's immigration struggle, Alejandra lead the organizing efforts in the fight for DAPA and expanded DACA at United We Dream National Network as the Deputy Organizing Director.
Alejandra has dedicated her life to social justice and community empowerment through grassroots mobilization. Currently, Alejandra serves as a Executive Director for the Arizona Center for Empowerment (ACE).
ABRIL GALLARDO CERVERA
Communications Director
Abril Gallardo Cervera’s family emigrated to the United States in 2003, and she recalls having to adapt to a new culture and a new lifestyle. While this was very difficult for them, her family is strong. Abril and her family have maintained great faith alongside their church's support. However, fear was still present in their daily lives because of the state’s many anti-immigrant laws, such as SB 1070, and hateful sentiments from the people of Arizona.
Despite this, Abril was able to transform this sense of fear into a drive to get involved and organize the immigrant community in Arizona. With the efforts of hundreds of individuals such as Abril, undocumented youth were able to get Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), which provided temporary relief for undocumented youth.
Abril has spent more than six years organizing and leading in her community through educational forums, legal immigration clinics, promoting Latino voting, civic education, and youth leadership development in Arizona. She was an instrumental communications team member in the Bazta Arpaio campaign that defeated former Sheriff Joe Arpaio in 2016.
Currently, Abril is the Communications Director of ACE. She also serves as the coordinator of the One Arizona Implementation Working Group, which focuses on educating, mobilizing, and demanding dignity for immigrant families.
Abril was born in Hidalgo, Mexico and is a Public Policy student at Phoenix College and Arizona State University.
GINA MIRIAM MENDEZ
Civic Engagement Organizer
“Gina” Miriam Mendez was born in San Jose, California. She is a first generation Chicana. In 2004, her family moved to Arizona for work and cheaper housing. She went to school in South Phoenix. In 2006, Gina was part of Arizona's first student walkouts at Cesar Chavez High School when students from schools across the country walked out to protest HR 4437. It was the first time she experienced racism, which later continued as SB 1070 was introduced in Arizona.
In 2010, she attended South Mountain Community College. Gina wanted to learn why several of her friends and family members did not graduate from high school. She began to take sociology and psychology classes. Soon she realized that societal structures impact first- and second-generation Mexican-Americans and Latinos and keep them from succeeding.
Gina transferred to Arizona State University, continued her studies in Psychology and Sociology, and joined the Hispanic Honor Society. She became the President of HHS. She restructured the club from and academic/professional organization to a social justice student organization that focused on issues within the Hispanic community and culture/identity. This began her organizing journey, as she began to volunteer for economic justice in the Fight for $15 campaign.
She soon became an organizer with ACE, empowering youth to create a better Arizona through advocacy and civic engagement. Gina continues to work with students, youth and people who are ready to take action for political consciousness.
STEPHANIE MALDONADO
Community Schools Project Director
Stephanie Maldonado is a first generation Mexican-American who was born in California but raised in New Mexico. In 2011, Stephanie moved to Arizona to attend Arizona State University, from where she graduated in 2015 with a Bachelor of Science in Political Science.
Stephanie grew up in a mix-status home, with two U.S Citizen siblings, a Permanent Resident father and an undocumented mother. After her mom self-deported herself and her family was separated, she felt the urge to help others.
Stephanie decided to stay in Arizona because she understood the sacrifices her parents made for her and her siblings to get an education.
Since then, Stephanie let a campaign to help register 150k voters in Arizona, and she was also instrumental in the victory to unseat former Sheriff Joe Arpaio.
Stephanie is now the Program Director for AZ Community Schools and hopes to help parents, students, and educators to take back our schools.