Today we’d like to introduce you to Daniela Rodriguez. Them and their team share their story with us below:
Daniela Rodriguez is an undocumented activist and community organizer born and raised in Chiapas, Mexico, she came to the U.S. with her mother at the age of 13 years old seeking a better future.
In 2013, during her first year of college, she became a founding member of Savannah Undocumented Youth Alliance, a grassroots organization that advocated for the rights of undocumented college students in Georgia and had the goal to end the Georgia College Ban, Policy Manual 4.1.6. She attended Georgia Southern University.
In her work as an advocate for education equity and immigration reform in the south, she has shared her personal story and has used her voice to speak up for those who are not always heard. Daniela has been featured in various local, state, and international newspapers.
She has been invited to speak at various panels, such as the Georgia Latinx Summit at the Infinite Energy Center, and various radio shows. In 2017, Daniela was featured in the documentary “American Dreaming,” and in 2019 she served as an intern for Border Angels, an organization that focuses on justice at the U.S-Mexican border. She is also a former ProGeorgia fellow and has helped advocate for the rights of colored women in the state of Georgia.
In 2019, she was nominated as a “Hidden Figure” Honoree by 9to5 Georgia Working Women-Savannah chapter for her commitment to DACA and immigration reform, and won the 2019 Most Outstanding Neighborhood Leader Award by Step Up Savannah. For three consecutive years, 2019 2020, and 2021, she was selected as one of the 50 most influential Latinas in the state of Georgia.
Last year, the Atlanta Magazine also featured Daniela as one of 60 Georgians doing important work for the future of our state.
Currently, Daniela has the honor of being the youngest member of the city of Savannah’s Hispanic Outreach, Leadership and Advocacy (HOLA) Savannah Taskforce and the Savannah Racial Equity and Leadership (REAL) Taskforce. She hopes to use her positions to bring fresh ideas to the table and continue to advocate for the rights of some of Savannah’s most vulnerable residents.
Most recently, in honor of International Migrants Day, the City of Savannah inducted Daniela to the Municipal Archives, making her officially part of history.
Last year, she started a nonprofit – Migrant Equity SouthEast a Latina and immigrant-led 501(c)(3) organization based in South Georgia. MESE advocates for immigrant rights and works directly with the migrant and refugee communities of South Georgia to bring them equitable access to resources available to citizens: health resources, educational resources, political resources as well as financial aid, and food assistance.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, she has organized volunteers and raised money to help with food and rent assistance to hundreds of low-income immigrant families in her community.
Currently, she serves as the Executive Director of Migrant Equity Southeast. Because of her resilience, she has inspired other students with similar backgrounds and stories. She believes that the future is female, education is a human right, and immigrants are Here To Stay.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
1. My main obstacle has been living undocumented for 14 years.
2. Having access to a college education in the state of Georgia has been a challenge
3. Losing my father in Mexico when I was 18 years old. He passed away and I was not able to visit him in Mexico or attend his funeral.
4. Being a young woman of color with a leadership position can be hard in the south due to ageism, racism, and many isms in the professional world.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am currently the Executive Director of Migrant Equity Southeast. But I have been an organizer since 2013.
Since 2013, I have been fighting for better treatment of undocumented people, immigration reform, and education justice for undocumented students.
For more info about my work with Migrant Equity Southeast: https://www.migrantequity.org.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.migrantequity.org/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mese_ga/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MigrantEquitySouthEast
- Other: https://www.linkedin.com/company/migrant-equity-southeast/?viewAsMember=true
