Alba Jaramillo is one of Arizona’s leaders in the area of immigration, human rights, and the arts. Alba graduated from the University of Arizona, magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in anthropology and theatre arts. She also received a Juris Doctor from the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University.
Alba grew up undocumented. Her experiences as an immigrant have been the driving force in her desire to seek justice for underserved communities. Alba was the former co-executive director of the Virginia sexual and domestic violence coalition, making her the youngest director in the country to lead a gender-based violence intervention coalition. In Arizona, she created programs that impacted thousands of immigrants’ lives. Currently, she is the Co-executive director of National Justice For Our Neighbors, the umbrella organization for 19 immigration legal services and advocacy organizations in the country. In the past two years, Alba assisted over 1,300 asylum seekers at the Mexican border to attain humanitarian parole and find safety in the United States. The asylum program that Alba created is lifesaving.
Alba also serves as the Co-Chair of the Southern Borders Community Collation, a policy organization representing over 60 immigrant rights groups and organizations on the southern border.
Alba is also a changemaker in the arts. She is an actress and the founder of Teatro Dignidad, a theater company in Tucson that produces bilingual plays about human rights.
Some of Alba’s honorary achievements include the Women’s Foundation Community Impact Award, “Sunnyside 100” presented to the most influential leaders from the Tucson Sunnyside district in the past 100 years, YWCA Woman on the Move, and Tucson “40 under 40.”
