Fighting for What’s Right

Visit with the White House Gender Policy Council

In August 2023, as part of a fellowship with Esperanza United, I was able to meet with the White House Gender Policy Council to discuss the victimization experiences of Latina women employed as domestic and farm workers in the United States.

In 2023, I was named a finalist for the UCCS STEM Solutions Competition and was able to lobby California Legislators to have victim advocates answer domestic disturbance calls to offer victims of domestic violence resources and services.
In 2022, I was named a finalist of the UCCS STEM Solutions Competition and was able to lobby California Legislators to have victim advocates be the first point of contact for survivors of sexual assault.

In 2022, I joined a lawsuit asking the U.S. Department of Education to change their discriminatory language policy which penalized native and heritage language speakers. That policy cost me 15 points in the language section leading me to lose the fellowship despite almost perfect scores in all other sections. On March 26, 2023 Federal Judge Guaderrama granted a preliminary injunction and Fulbright-Hays will not be able to penalize native and heritage speakers. You can read the New York Times piece here and about the injunction here.
In September 2023, Veronica was named an alternate for the Fulbright-Hays DDRA Fellowship.
In October 2023, SAPIENS published an Op-Ed about my experience with the Fulbright-Hays DDRA application. Read more here.
Listen to my interview with KJZZ The Show here. Interview was released on January 12, 2024.