Deirel Marquez Perez is a current student at City College of San Francisco studying International Relations with an emphasis in Peace, Development, and Political Economy. Deirel aims to transfer to a university in the fall of 2017. Born in Oaxaca, Mexico, Deirel migrated to the United States when she was only one year old. Being from Oaxaca, Deirel has a strong commitment to helping indigenous people keep their beautiful traditions and culture while creating new methods of economic development and progress that doesn’t put ancestral values at risk of being forgotten as a result of globalization.

Deirel strives to work for a global institution tackling issues that primarily affect people in Latin American countries who are excluded and marginalized from decision-making, access to resources, modern technologies and education—all of which prevent the establishment of a sustainable and fair development in these regions.

Passionate about tackling social justice issues on a macro and micro level, Deirel also hopes to one day contribute to peace talks in war torn countries. Growing up undocumented, Deirel understands that while the root causes of migration are very complex, many times economic hardship is a major contributing factor that causes people to migrate.

Deirel is excited to be working at The Office of Civic Engagement & Immigrant Affairs (OCEIA) for her placement as a DreamSF Fellow. She aspires to expand her skills while developing an immigrant engagement and financial empowerment initiative that enhances existing naturalization and immigrant integration programming by incorporating financial empowerment knowledge, tools, and services. With this, Deirel hopes to empower immigrants in San Francisco and continue contributing to a more just world.