Students
Class of 2024
Elias (He/Him) intends to focus on indigenous sovereignty in the United States and the lessons which can be gleaned from the plurinationalism movement in Bolivia and the corresponding governance models which have been implemented via the novel 2009 Plurinational Constitution. He particularly has interests in Federal Indian Law and public law in the US, and how the majority-minority institutions in Bolivia provide legal alternatives to minority protections which go beyond the rights and federal oversight that define the US legal canon, with instead the endowment of minority power and self-governance,
With experience and knowledge in California’s social movements...
Class of 2024
Estefanía Acuña Lacarieri was born and raised in Mexico City, Mexico. As an undergraduate at Stanford University, Estefanía majored in Political Science with an emphasis in Political Economy and Development, and she also completed a second major in Communication.
Estefanía is interested in immigration policy, human rights, international relations, renewable energy, and political activism. In particular, Estefanía seeks to enhance electoral institutions as a means of protecting Latin American democracies against populist threats. As a result, Estefanía has worked as a Research Assistant for the Deliberative Democracy Lab, as Event Chair for the Stanford Society for Latin...
Class of 2024
Lola Amaya was born in Arlington, Virginia and raised in Falls Church, Virginia. Lola graduated with honors and distinction from the University of Colorado, Boulder in 2022 with a B.A. in International Affairs, and Spanish Language and Literature. As the daughter of a refugee from El Salvador, Lola’s undergraduate thesis titled “Informal Intersections: Gangs and Economic Opportunity in El Salvador” is influenced by personal and familial interests and experiences regarding the country’s history of violence. This research posits that despite the deeply personal travesties that gangs incur on others, their overall economic impact is relatively balanced; in...
Class of 2024
Isa Calero Forero was born and raised in Quito, Ecuador, and their parents are from Cali, Colombia. Isa majored in International Relations, with a concentration in Social Development and Human Well-Being, and Africa. At Stanford, they have also been interested in language learning, especially Portuguese and French, creative writing, and human rights.
While studying at Stanford, Isa spent a summer doing research on gender based violence in the armed conflict setting in Colombia with the think tank Fedesarollo, in Bogotá, Colombia, and research on public health policies with ImpulsoGov in São Paulo, Brazil. Isa has also sought...
Class of 2024
Anahi De La Cruz was born and raised in Santa Ana, California. Anahi majored in Anthropology with an emphasis on culture and society as an undergraduate at Stanford University.
Anahi grew up in a predominantly Latinx community and became involved with the Latinx community in North Fair Oaks during her undergraduate career. She has worked with New Voices for Youth, teaching middle school students how to use film to voice their perspectives about issues in their community and working with high school students to launch a help desk providing a one-on-one, bilingual help for Latinx parents in the community to have...
Class of 2024
Cydni Gordon was born and raised in Northern Virginia, just outside of Washington D.C. Mostly recently, Cydni was a Program Officer in the Western Hemisphere Fulbright Programs Branch in the Office of Academic Exchange Programs for the Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) for three years. In that role, Cydni worked with countries throughout the hemisphere including many Latin American countries: Bolivia, the Dominican Republic, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Venezuela. She also worked with the English and French speaking Caribbean countries. In addition, she represented ECA on the Fulbright Americas Diversity and Inclusion Council...
Class of 2024
Born in Japan, but raised in Latin American countries: Nicaragua, Ecuador, and Brazil, Karen grew up speaking 4 languages. She earned her B.A. degree from Saint Louis University by double majoring in International Studies and Spanish, with a concentration in Latin America. Her coursework covered anthropology, linguistics, history, and politics of Latin America. Karen's undergraduate thesis was a comparative case study of ethnic assimilation between the Japanese and African population in Brazil. Apart from her undergraduate thesis, Karen wrote about her interest in Koronia-go, the language of the Japanese colony in Brazil, which she looks forward to continuing researching more at Stanford.
Before coming to Stanford, Karen took every opportunity she could to serve the international population. She served as the Student Government Association's Vice President for International affairs, became the International Ambassador Coordinator, worked closely...
Class of 2024
Solange Melissa Severino de Oliveira was born and raised in Brazil, in the cities of Manaus and São Paulo. She is a coterm student majoring in Political Science, with a minor in Feminist, Gender and Sexuality Studies. Melissa is particularly passionate about development politics and aims to work with public policy towards gender equality.
She is currently writing a thesis under the Center for Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law, in which she aims to explore the influence that gender policy preferences have in the voting decisions of Brazilian women. She also co-founded and co-directed Latin...
Class of 2024
Ana Elena Smith was born and raised in Redwood City, CA. She is majoring in Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity at Stanford. Ana Elena’s coursework has centered around migratory and diasporic experiences, with special emphasis on how literature and films can help shed light on these experiences. Ana Elena has also worked with several immigrant rights organizations while pursuing her bachelor’s, in roles ranging from completing work permit applications to being a teaching assistant for an E.S.L. course. She spent several years volunteering for Al Otro Lado, helping asylum seekers enter the United States while the...
Class of 2024
Jesus Urbano Gonzalez was born in Mexico City and raised in Santa Ana, California. Jesus graduated with Honors from the University of California, Berkeley, with a Bachelor of Arts in Legal Studies. Before finishing his undergraduate degree at UC Berkeley, Jesus acquired three Associates of Arts with Honors from Santa Ana College.
As an undergraduate student at UC Berkeley, Jesus was a linguistics research apprentice for the Mam Language and Culture Class. This particular experience opened his eyes to the dire translation crisis happening in the US immigration system, hospitals, and schools where there are not enough interpreters that speak Indigenous languages. In addition...