NYU senior spearheads a non-profit organization in education
By: Leila Biola Olukoga
SemegaChange
It all began with a language exemption exam and a shared dream. Gracia Perez, in her sophomore year at New York University at the time, had been waiting in line to take her Spanish exemption exam when she met Britney Quiroz. While awaiting her admission into the exam room, Perez shared her experiences and aspirations with Quiroz to further education opportunities for the Latinx community.
Two years later, Perez has brought her goals and dreams to fruition with Quiroz right by her side. Serving as founder and executive director of Latinos for Grad, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting Latinx students in pursuing higher education, Perez has continued making transformative changes within the community.
Born in San Salvador, El Salvador, Perez has always felt a larger calling to lead change in education.
“My mom received an education back in El Salvador, but it didn't really come into use in the US because they kind of invalidated the education that she had,” Perez said. “I just thought to myself, ‘there has to be a better alternative and a better path for Latinos, especially with education.’”
Perez, now a senior with a double major in Political Science and Journalism, combined her academic interests into her organization to help provide educational resources and support to Latinx students applying for college.
“I knew that my strengths were in writing; I knew that I was a good writer, and I knew that I really liked editing people's papers in high school and even in college,” Perez said. “I was just like, ‘Okay, let me put all these skills together.’ Since then, working within community organizing has opened up doors for me to collaborate with other people's organizations and even help bring other people's ideas to life.”
The Latinos for Grad team currently consists of four mentors, each responsible for working one-on-one with Latinx high school students and assisting them with their college applications.
Some work that Perez has accomplished with Latinos for Grad revolves around collaborating with her mentee, Kimberly Palomino, and her non-profit organization, Dreams United, to mail hand-written letters to detained immigrant youth at the U.S.-Mexico border.
Perez said her work with the Latinx community is both crucial and influential for her as a Latina student furthering her education.
“We can't negate the fact that education is such an entrenched part of every immigrant's life,” Perez said. “I believe that education is what gets you out of the situation; education is what's going to get you ahead. I thought it was very important to encourage these young people to keep on fighting and working, and that they could achieve their goals, whether or not it's through education.”
Perez said that her identity as a Latina from El Salvador has contributed greatly to her academic and philanthropic interests in education and politics.
“My family was impacted very severely by the Civil War that happened in El Salvador,” Perez said. “[Because of that], once I arrived in college, I knew I wanted to pursue a career in advocacy and politics. I want to see what I can do with the skills and talents I have to put my community forward.”
Perez’s future goals for Latinos for Grad include recognizing the organization as a non-profit organization in the State of New York, creating a grant for older Latinos to further their education, and creating workshops that cover topics such as FAFSA aid for Latinos pursuing higher education.
Perez said that El Salvadorian women and the Latinx community must emphasize taking the initiative and sticking together to enact change.
“I know that can be such a scary thing, especially when you don't know where to start, but I think that that really held me back for a really long time, and initiative is the most valuable thing that you can do,” Perez said. “There's always going to be someone that can give you advice and help you, and that's going to take you really, really far.”
Comments