Valeria Suárez was born and raised in Lima, Perú. Her immigration story started at the age of sixteen when she followed her brother’s footsteps and left every sense of home and safety to start anew in San Bernardino, California. She is now a student at the University of California, Berkeley pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Social Welfare with minors in both Ethnic Studies and Global Poverty and Practice.

As an unDACAmented immigrant, Valeria has seen how people can easily fall through the cracks of the immigration system. She is passionate about empowering the immigrant community and providing them with the tools needed to collectively fight for their rights while ensuring that the voices of the most marginalized are at the center, specifically undocumented queer folks. From helping run Know Your Rights Workshops to helping organizing campaigns, Valeria’s passion for grassroots organizing has led her to be part of different campaigns and projects that support the immigrant community in the Bay Area and SoCal. Valeria hopes to continue this work because she believes that the biggest threat against oppressive forces that threaten her community is being organized and a united.

As a DreamSF Fellow, Valeria’s placement is at the SF LGBT Center. Valeria’s role is focused on working within the intersections of the immigrant and queer communities by gathering resources for queer undocumented folks in the Bay Area. Her work at the SF LGBT Center will be centered around doing intentional intersectional work that uplifts the voices that have historically been marginalized from the immigrant movement.