Paulina Leyva Hernandez

Paulina is originally from Mexico, but has resided in the United States for the past decade. She is passionate about matters of social, racial, and economic justice and the defense of human rights, women’s rights, and immigrant rights. Her own experiences as an immigrant and Latinx woman inform her trauma-informed approach in her work. She has worked in the domestic and international nonprofit sector advocating for persecuted and other vulnerable populations, including immigrant workers, forcibly displaced individuals, LGBTQ+ asylum-seekers, survivors of torture and gender-based violence. Her previous work also inspires her dedication to give back to her community and to amplify the voices of those directly impacted. Paulina received a B.A. from the City University of New York and is currently pursuing a joint law and master’s degree with a focus on International Human Rights at the CUNY School of Law, and aspires to continue growing and working as an advocate in the public interest legal field.