Jennifer is the Fellowship Coordinator for the Arte Américas Cultural Arts Fellowship Program, where she oversees five undergraduate Fellows and supports the success of their semester-long, project-based work.
Born in Nogales, Sonora, Mexico, Jennifer is a first-generation Mexicana Chicana scholar-activist. She holds a Master’s in Chicana and Chicano Studies from San José State University and a Bachelor’s in Ethnic Studies from California State University, Stanislaus. Her research project, Armas de Resistencia Contra El Sistema de Educación y La Política, examines the barriers undocumented mujeres in the Central Valley face while navigating education, while also centering their resilience and empowerment. Through this work, Jennifer theorizes UndocuJoy, shifting away from dominant narratives of pain and suffering to highlight the everyday acts of joy, dignity, and resistance that sustain undocumented communities.
Jennifer is co-author of Storying Son Jarocho Fandango: A Culturally Decolonizing Pedagogy in Ethnic Studies (2024). She has presented at national conferences including NACCS, MALCS, and AERA, and was recognized in the Transcending Borders: The Central Valley Writers’ Premio Lit anthology.
Fun fact, Jennifer loves to dance, go on hikes, spend valuable time con la familia, and unapologetically translanguages in different spaces.
(she/her/ella)
jennifer@arteamericas.org