Javier Lopez Quintana was born in Michoacán, Mexico and migrated to the United States with his parents at the age of 4; he was raised in Southeast Los Angeles. Since Javier helped his family financially, his academic career began as a part time student at East Los Angeles College. While working at a shampoo factory for close to a year, Javier saw the detrimental conditions of laborers, especially undocumented workers. He used that pivotal moment to attend East Los Angeles College (ELAC) full time and dedicate his education toward helping and working with vulnerable communities.

At ELAC, Javier was a community organizer with the American Federation of Teachers (AFT). While at AFT, he helped lead a movement to make the Los Angeles Community College District safer for undocumented students and parents. Javier also organized students to advocate for immigrant rights, funding for public education, criminal justice reform, equity in education, and affordable housing.

Javier’s work as an organizer taught him the power behind giving a platform to underserved and underrepresented communities as well as the importance of encouraging citizens to participate in political processes, such as voting. He was also a writer with the ELAC Campus News, focusing on political and social issues impacting students.

Javier recently graduated with a B.A in political science from UC Berkeley and a certificate in Film and Media. He currently works with the Latinx Research Center as their Visual Coordinator and with the Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity as a Dream SF Fellow.

Javier is also deeply invested in filmmaking. His film The Perfect Immigrant won the Jury’s Choice award at the UC Berkeley Campus Movie Fest. His film Casa Sin Fronteras was selected to play at BAMPFA’s Student Film Festival. Whether it is through writing, filmmaking, organizing, or advocating, Javier aspires to continue to use his skills to uplift, inform, and work with marginalized communities.