Meet our 2021 Dream SF Fellows
For the second year in a row, we have partnered with The San Francisco Office of Civic Engagement & Immigrant Affairs (OCEIA) to serve as a host site for Dream SF Fellows in the bay area. The DreamSF Fellowship is a paid leadership and professional development program for immigrants in the Bay Area. This year we have the privilege of working with two outstanding fellows, Jade and Dani. Please check out their bio’s below to learn more about them!
Jade Mora Gutierrez (she, her, ella) is a transfemme born from the farmlands of Cuquio, Jalisco, Mexico. Growing up as a youth in Milwaukee, WI, she and her migrant family experienced how the U.S. government oppresses undocumented economic refugees.
She immersed herself in activism from a young age, participating in all of the early 2000s immigrant rights marches and protests. As a teen she joined the fight for in-state tuition for undocumented students at any age, and organized for access to drivers licenses for people without a Social Security number. In her early 20s, Jade joined the rise of intersectional conversations amongst undocuqueer and trans asylees. Within the local Milwaukee community, she worked at the grassroots level, outside the non-profit industrial complex, pushing against narratives of the “good immigrant”, and organized for the freedom of migrants facing deportations with criminal background charges.
Jade came to the San Francisco Bay Area in 2016 to work for the Transgender Law Center as a Bilingual Helpline Associate. Currently, she works as a language justice consultant for a variety of nonprofits and foundations, and as a barista for Hasta Muerte Coffee Cooperative in Fruitvale.
She is currently pursuing a Bachelor in Fine Arts Degree, and hopes to one day be an educator at the college level. She utilizes drawing and printmaking to document the lives of trans and/or queer, migrant, and working-class people to showcase their struggles, joys, and resilience.
Jade will be supporting CUAV’s SAF-T (Survivors Advocating for Freedom Today) program. She’lll be engaging our membership, creating community connections, and advocating for systemic change toward the larger goals of decreasing deportation, homelessness, and incarceration rates.
Dani Amador (They/She) is a queer migrant from Veracruz, Mexico. They are currently pursuing a degree in Ethnic Studies at the University of California, Berkeley.
A former Immigrants Rising Immigration Law Fellow, Dani has gained experience with providing legal intake services to migrant communities across the country. They also have experience supporting Deportation Defense work and nurturing youth leadership with the California for Immigrant Youth Justice Alliance (CIYJA). At the moment, Dani is exploring their potential career options. They have begun to do so by continuing to sharpen their critical analysis and skills whilst providing direct services to queer and trans migrants in the Bay Area. Ultimately, Dani feels passionate about doing community work that is empowering and affirms people’s right to self determination and agency.
During the DreamSF Fellowship, Dani will serve as the Healing Justice Fellow, providing direct services to queer and trans migrants at CUAV. As part of their role, Dani will support curriculum development to uplift collective and individual healing justice practices. They will also be co-facilitating support groups where this curriculum will be shared in order to foster a space for community building and healing.
In their free time, Dani enjoys going for a morning swim, reading, making playlists and spending time with chosen family and friends.