About Me
A Human Rights Champion
From a young age, my life was shaped by the call to fight for justice, driven by my experiences as an immigrant and being raised by a strong, single mother. Witnessing housing discrimination and sitting in court while my mom battled her employers who withheld her wages, I learned the strength needed to overcome adversity. Inspired by my mom’s resilience, I aimed to become an attorney and activist against injustice.
As a human rights lawyer, I’ve dedicated my career to advocating for the vulnerable. At the Executive Office for Immigration Review, I worked to ensure immigrants received fair treatment in court. As a deputy city attorney, I advised on funding legal representation for immigrants and drafted an ordinance to prevent a religious registry.
As a criminal prosecutor, I supported survivors of domestic violence, and the need to protect vulnerable individuals from overpolicing and racial profiling. My work as a legal aid attorney involved organizing tenant rights clinics and ensuring self-help documents were available in multiple languages, like Spanish, Korean, Vietnamese, and Chinese.
These experiences have deepened my commitment to justice and the belief that everyone deserves dignity and respect, honoring my mother’s resilience.
A Lifelong Activist
My journey as an activist has been driven by a deep sense of justice and a desire to create meaningful change. My activism began in high school with a student walkout protesting Proposition 21 and the choice of funding prisons over education in California. I later joined the Bus Riders Union for better transit and Communities for a Better Environment fighting against oil refineries in neighborhoods. These experiences taught me the power of community and the importance of standing together for a common cause. Organizing rallies, teach-ins, and forums against the unjust detention of Muslims and immigrants during the Bush era was a challenging yet pivotal time in my activism, and it strengthened my resolve to fight for human rights.
I helped draft asylum law reforms and lobbied for migrant worker protections. At the UN Tribunal in Cambodia, I assisted in drafting genocide indictments against the Khmer Rouge. This profound experience further fueled my commitment to justice, a commitment that drove me to write a resolution for a ceasefire in Gaza as an elected board member on the Los Feliz Neighborhood Council.
On the Council, I championed environmental causes, transportation projects, and housing protections. I secured street safety improvements and established the Diversity and Inclusion Ad Hoc Committee.
As both an activist and a lawyer, I am committed to leading with integrity and compassion. This is not just my mission; it’s my life’s work.