KROC IPJ BORDER FELLOWS PROGRAM - University of San ...
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KROC IPJ BORDER FELLOWS PROGRAM
The University of San Diego established the Kroc School to prepare innovative changemakers for careers
dedicated to solving humanity’s urgent challenges. The School’s Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice (Kroc
IPJ) works to develop and champion evidence-based, justice-centered solutions to end cycles of violence.
The Border Fellows program is the cornerstone of our cross-border initiatives, bringing together leaders
working in academia, civil society, the public sector, and industry to build a more inclusive and peaceful
border region.
Our Fellows anchor a cross-border network of local scholars, practitioners, and policymakers working to
reduce vulnerabilities for women, provide opportunities for at-risk youth, protect migrants, increase
access to justice, contribute to environmental resilience, prevent violence, and minimize human rights
abuses. The fellowship period is 12 months, during which time participants learn from and with other
Fellows and the Kroc School community. We are pleased to announce the 2021-2022 inaugural cohort
of Border Fellows, who are joined by a group of ten Border Allies.
Rebeca Cazares, Border Fellow
Cazares works with PrevenCasa to provide workshops in Tijuana for
healthcare professionals on the structural barriers to healthcare for
migrants in transit, social determinants of health in primary care, and
trauma-informed care. To minimize the barriers that migrants face when
accessing health services, Cazares will also hold workshops on how to
navigate the healthcare system in Mexico.
Luis Guillermo Gomez Rosales, Border Fellow
Grounded in the understanding that trauma experienced by migrants
often goes unaddressed, Gomez is working to provide comprehensive
psychological assistance in Tijuana. His project offers migrants crisis
management, art therapy, sports therapy, and social emotional skills
workshops. Gomez believes that positive change in the border region will
occur when vulnerable populations are given safe mental, emotional, and behavioral spaces.
Marla Lino, Border Fellow
ProSalud’s Orale Program has the goal of improving the life of young
people living in marginalized conditions through an innovative youth-to-
youth method providing training to develop life and work skills, as well as networking for education and
employment. In operation for six years, Orale has benefited more than 1,700 young people, where 85%
of the graduates have obtained a job within four months of completing the program. Lino will extend
Orale to support youth as they transition out of drug addiction treatment centers in Tijuana.
KROC INSTITUTE FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE
sandiego.edu/peace/border
Florisse Vasquez, Border Fellow
Vasquez will hold workshops for middle and high school students in
schools in Tijuana that discuss topics of multiculturalism, equality,
inclusion, and migration. The workshops will be developed in
collaboration with researchers at COLEF to help Mexican youth
understand the challenges migrants face, building solidarity and fostering greater social cohesion in the
region. The workshops will include a traveling exhibition, video capsules, and a social media campaign.
Alina Breton, Young Border Fellow
Breton will offer a two-month, paid on the job training program for
migrants at La Favorita’s factory in Tijuana, where participants can learn
while manufacturing environmentally friendly bags. Additional support will be available to help migrants
in accessing long-term employment opportunities, including mental health and legal services.
Acacitli Espinoza, Young Border Fellow
PurpleHUB Noting the discrimination Mexican women face in the labor market,
Espinoza's initiative intends to combat gender-based economic
vulnerabilities by equipping women with data analysis skills that are in high demand in the labor market.
Through courses and networking opportunities, participants in Baja California will increase their
economic security.
Miguel Garcia, Young Border Fellow
Garcia's H.E.A.L project will renovate a Mexicali community park in
collaboration with the local government to reduce and prevent violence,
encourage a healthy style, and foster social cohesion. He plans to
beautify the park, installing lighting and exercise equipment to make it a
safe and useable space. Garcia envisions that the project will be effective
at reducing crime and can be replicated in other public spaces.
Yara Amparo Lopez, Border Ally
Lopez works with schools across the region to ensure access to education
for migrant youth, coordinating enrollment of migrant students and
services to support their integration into schools. These programs
include teacher training, support groups, and Spanish classes. Lopez
believes that it is important to raise awareness of the challenges that migrant youth face in order to
support them in continuing their education.
KROC INSTITUTE FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE
sandiego.edu/peace/border
Carlos Martinez, Border Ally
While conducting ethnographic work in Tijuana for his dissertation in
Medical Anthropology, Martinez has supported non-profit organizations
like the Wound Clinic and the Refugee Health Alliance who provide free
healthcare to deported, refugee, and homeless patients. He has an
interest in increasing capacity to document police violence by training
healthcare providers to collect forensic evidence.
Ana Ochoa, Border Ally
Contextualized by the educational challenges brought forth by COVID-19,
Ochoa offers a digital magazine and podcast to better connect with
parents and students during distance learning. The content aims to
provide greater social connection, while simultaneously contesting the
rise of misinformation and intrafamilial violence that has increased due
to the pandemic. The free digital magazine has already reached over
3,000 families and has been effective at improving family dynamics.
Francisco Orozco Diaz, Border Ally
Orozco leads violence prevention programs for youth at a cultural center
in the Camino Verde neighborhood in Tijuana. By equipping youth with
emotional empowerment and conflict prevention skills during ongoing
workshops, he imagines that youth can be an important force for a more peaceful community.
Andrea Peña, Border Ally
Peña has worked with UNDP's Integrate initiative, focused on socially
and economically integrating migrants and asylum seekers into Mexican
society. The program provides a model for private-public sector collaboration that can be scaled to
support more migrants in the region.
Karolyna Pollorena, Border Ally
Respond Crisis Translation is a global network of activists and language
experts who guarantee the right to translation for asylum seekers.
Pollorena believes it imperative that migrants are provided with
compassionate and trauma-informed translation to receive appropriate
legal assistance, healthcare, and other basic services. To sustain the critical work of Respond Crisis
Translation, Pollorena works to develop volunteer training for issues related to inclusive language, the
LGBTQ community, and gender violence.
KROC INSTITUTE FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE
sandiego.edu/peace/border
Nicole Ramos, Border Ally
Ramos directs the Border Rights Project at Al Otro Lado, providing legal
orientation and know-your-rights training to migrants. Through her work
she has helped support over 6000 migrants from 50 countries to
understand their rights and implement strategies to defend those rights.
She is committed to continuing to develop tools to advocate for
migrants.
Sahoori Rivera, Border Ally
Rivera is committed to providing pro bono legal services for migrants
and sees an important role for the private sector legal community in Baja
in making sure that migrants have access to practical information both
in Mexico as well as in other countries of origin prior to migration. She
has observed that much of the information offered lacks critical
specificity related to the processes of receiving visas, accessing social
services, and attaining legal assistance.
Gustavo Valdez, Border Ally
At GRID alternatives, Valdez partners with students to install solar
panels, to both promote workforce development and advance economic
and environmental justice. With projects in the works at migrant
shelters, low-cost health clinics, and orphanages, Valdez envisions that
the installation of solar panels can alleviate economic hardship, help organizations focus resources on
their core mission, and contribute to greater environmental resiliency in the region.
Alejandra Melisa Viruete, Border Ally
Noting the challenge of navigating the Mexican immigration system,
Viruete works to provide migrants seeking both temporary and
permanent residence in Mexico with free legal assistance. Viruete sees
the lack of information and financial resources as one of the central
barriers for migrants to access essential residency documents in Mexico and provides free legal advice
to migrants through information sessions given at shelters and churches, and through social media.
KROC INSTITUTE FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE
sandiego.edu/peace/border
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