Nathalie Guillen

Nathalie Guillen is a Latindigenous student studying Legal Studies and Public Policy. She was born and raised in San Francisco, growing up in a single-parent household headed by her mother (an immigrant from Peru) in the supportive-housing development on Treasure Island. Her low-income, first-gen status has played a major role in shaping her perspective regarding economic and racial justice and has heavily influenced her professional trajectory. Nathalie’s passion for social justice stems from her early exposure to organizing spaces, her mom was involved with several organizations and would take Nathalie and her sister with her to meetings and protests from a very young age. In high school she founded a student club geared towards discussing Latin American politics and other topics of cultural relevance, during her time in community college she began canvassing to inform her community about progressive campaigns and candidates such as Bernie Sanders and Jackie Fielder. For the past couple years she has been a Policy Intern for San Francisco District Supervisor Hillary Ronen, whose jurisdiction includes the historically-Latinx Mission neighborhood in San Francisco, through her office Nathalie has become even more involved with projects and legislation that promote economic and racial equity. She is also extremely proud of the grassroots work she has performed in her leadership roles in the Brown Issues UC Berkeley chapter and the Indigenous and Native Coalition Recruitment and Retention Center at Cal. Through these organizations, she and her peers strive to uplift and empower members of marginalized communities via civic engagement, political education, and increased access to resources. This summer Nathalie hopes to intern for a state office or organization whose work focuses on Indigenous, Latinx or labor issues.