WHO WE ARE

Staff

Erika Guadalupe Núñez is a queer immigrant, artist, and cultural organizer currently serving as the Executive Director of JUNTOS. After emigrating from Mexico at a young age with her mother, Erika Guadalupe grew up sin papeles and eventually sin miedo which inspired her work as a community organizer for immigrant rights in both local and national campaigns since 2011.

Developed as an organizer by both JUNTOS and Mijente, Erika Guadalupe has dedicated the past decade of her life as an organizer fighting against the criminalization, detention, and deportation of her community. She believes that a world without cages - in all of its forms - is possible. As the former resident artist of JUNTOS, Erika Guadalupe's public work centered around creating art for rallies and cultural celebrations with members of her community, to both highlight issues of inequality as they pertain to the immigrant rights movement and preserve traditions for future generations. 

Erika Guadalupe is a member of Mijente’s Leadership Circle and has been recognized for both her cultural work and community organizing via various awards and fellowships: GALAEI’s David Acosta Revolutionary Leadership Award in 2015, the Leeway Art & Change Grant in 2015 and 2017, and the Leeway Transformation Award in 2017.  Recent fellowships have included the Knight Foundation’s Emerging City Champions Fellowship and the Advocacy Leadership Institute with the National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures (NALAC). 

Daisy (she/her) is a community organizer, advocate and activist in the immigrant community. She was born and raised in Torreón, Coahuila, México until she and her family migrated to San Antonio, Texas in 2003. Daisy's organizing started on her college campus with fellow undocumented peers. It was then and through her volunteering with el Centro de Cultura, Arte, Trabajo y Educación (CCATE), that she affirmed her commitment to working in and with disenfranchised communities.Daisy currently resides in Norristown, PA with her partner. In her free time she enjoys cooking, dancing and spending time with family and friends.

Ana is an immigrant from San Lucas Atzala Puebla, Mexico, who migrated to South Philly  and grew up undocumented until receiving her green card in 2016. Since arriving in Philadelphia, Ana has lived and worked in the same South Philly neighborhood as many of our members and is a single mother of three.What brought Ana Victoria to juntos was the engagement the organization has to move our community into making a change. Ana attended her first protest with Juntos on June 23, 2021 with the “ No Pride in Detention” in Washington DC and slowly found her way gravitating to Juntos by bringing her kids to the poderosos program in July of 2021 were that became the gate way to Cafe y Charla in February of 2021 where Ana Victoria shortly found more access point to become informed of what was happening in her community but most importantly finding a space where she could also participate and show up for her community. Ana began her journey as part of the team on May 16, 2022 as resource assistant and gradually shifted to resource coordinator in April of 2023.

Ana's personal experience as an immigrant and her commitment to supporting her community provide her with unique insights and a deep understanding of the challenges faced by the families we serve.

As Resource Coordinator, Ana manages and distributes essential mutual aid resources, provides one-on-one case support, and conducts educational workshops on various public resources, ensuring that community members receive the support they need.

Guadalupe Mendez was born and raised in South Philly, where her parents come to from Mexico. She majored in Political Science and minored in Philosophy and Latin American Studies. One of her goals are to create a space for youth to feel safe and represented at JUNTOS.

Manny Vasquez (he/him/el) (Native Mexican/Zapotec Heritage), is a first generation Mexican-American of immigrant parents who was born and raised in Inglewood, California. Manny graduated from San Francisco State University with a B.A in English Education and served as a part-time teacher in California's Bay Area before he went on to spend the next several years engaging communities in Oakland as a grass-roots community organizer. During his time in California, Manny helped coordinate educational equity initiatives, local and state-wide legislative campaigns, and facilitated resource accessibility for immigrant and at-risk community members.

Since moving to Philadelphia in 2021, Manny has worked with organizations like UESF, IPD Philly, Fleisher Art Memorial, and Puentes de Salud before beginning his work as a Case Organizer with Juntos. In his free time, Manny spends time developing his artistic practice as a photographer and as a traditional aztec danzante to connect with his cultural heritage. He can often be seen around Philly with his best friend and co-pilot, Papash the Shiba.

Maria de los Angeles Mendez is a queer woman, youth activist, and daughter of immigrant parents. She was born and raised in South Philadelphia and her parents come from Puebla Mexico. Maria began her journey with Juntos the summer of 2020 during the uprisings after the murder of George Floyd. She started gaining interest in community work because of all the inequity, discrimination, and injustices she was witnessing. Maria joined JUNTOS as a youth member and volunteer, ultimately participating in the youth leadership program Fuerza, and completing terms as an Ambassador and Junior Organizer. Maria has also served as a youth program intern at Puentes de Salud, facilitator for Familia TQLM’s national convening, and is currently participating in a leadership cohort with Future Economy Lab. Maria is most excited to have the opportunity to get closer to her community, and discover new ways she can best support the struggles she notices in her city.

My name is Ashley Tellez, I am a Junior Organizer here at JUNTOS. I’ve been involved in organization work at Juntos for 5 years. My parents are both from Mexico City but I am born and raised in South Philadelphia. I love being apart of JUNTOS and being able to have a impact in my community.

My name is Felipe Mejia-Cuba I was born and raised in South Philadelphia. Some of my hobbies include working out, spending time with my mom, and going around the city. I really like the community at Juntos. Every time I enter the office, there’s always a conversation and never a quiet moment. Everyone is really nice to each other and they treat each other with respect. Through their conversations and personalities, it helps me embrace my voice and who I am.

Board

Emiliano Rodriguez – President – Emiliano is a regional director of the union Unite Here! He is originally from El Paso, TX, is Chicano, and has been doing work on labor issues and immigration reform for over 15 years.  He joined the board in 2013.

AmaRa Pedreros-Montes – Vice President – AmaRa is a senior at Temple University and originally hails from Southern California. After moving to Philadelphia five years ago, she missed the strong Latinx community she had back home but found a sense of belonging in South Philadelphia’s Latine community. AmaRa interned and worked at Juntos for two years before joining the board, where she built strong connections with community members and deepened her understanding of the organization’s mission. She admires the impactful work Juntos does and is excited to continue contributing to the community in her new role.

Marissa Johnson Valenzuela – Treasurer– Marissa is an Associate Professor of English at Community College of Philadelphia and an officer of CCP’s faculty and staff union, AFT 2026. Marissa has previously taught Chicano and Latino studies courses at University of Wyoming and works on expanding such offerings at CCP. Marissa is a 2020 Pew Fellow in the Arts as well as the recipient of many other arts awards and recognitions. She is mixed-race Chicana/Latinx vía Mexico with the earliest immigrant arriving to the U.S. in 1915 from Chihuahua. She was born in Wichita, Ks and arrived in Philadelphia in 2020. Marissa lived for a total of eight months in and near Zapatista territory in the Mexican state of Chiapas in 1999, 2003, and 2007 and later spent a few months in Havana, Cuba. She joined the board in 2021.

Frances Kreimer – Secretary – Frances is the Director of Education at Pendle Hill, a Quaker center open to all for retreat, learning, and community. Frances was born in Philadelphia. She previously worked in community-based deportation defense organizations and taught Villanova University Law School’s Clinic for Asylum, Refugee and Emigrant Services.  Frances joined the board in  2019.

Fran Cortes is the Executive Director of Familia TQLM, a national Latino LGBTQ rights organization. He was born in Mexico, immigrated as a child and was raised right outside of Philadelphia in Kennett Square, where his parents are agricultural workers. He graduated from Temple University and joined the board in 2016.

Ivonne Pinto-Garcia is an artist and community organizer who views art as being at the intersection of community and health, as such, she has devoted herself to building strong support networks across the Mexican community of Philadelphia. Ivonne utilizes a mixed-media artistic practice, one that is centered in cartoneria (papier-mache), through which she creates piñatas for birthdays, arreglitos for spectacular quinceañeras, altares, and the brightly colored and mythical alebrijes for Day of the Dead celebrations. Over the past 13+ years, she has used her art to assist in the direct actions and educational events of such organizations as Juntos, Puentes de Salud, Fleisher Art Memorial, Philadelphia Folklore Project, Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens, and Cesar Andreu Iglesias Gardens. By using art to call attention to injustices and existing community support services, Ivonne is able to help facilitate community members’ access to quality healthcare, education, expression, and wellness opportunities.

Leah Reisman is a Program Officer at the Barra Foundation, and previously served as Health & Wellness Director at Puentes de Salud, where she launched and shepherded programs in food access, mental health, the arts and culture, and case management, working in close partnership with Latinx community members. Leah has consulted to local and national nonprofits and foundations on the role of art and culture in social and community change, and she speaks and writes about philanthropy and the nonprofit sector. Leah also sits on the board of the Asociación de Empresarios Mexicanos de Philadelphia and Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens. She holds a Ph.D. in sociology from Princeton University. Leah is originally from California but has been a proud south Philadelphian for the last decade. She believes strongly in the wisdom and power of community members to shape our collective future. 

Sheila Maddali is the daughter of South Asian immigrants and began organizing as a teenager when her community was targeted by post-9/11 racial profiling and immigration enforcement. She has been involved in the struggle for racial and economic justice for nearly two decades in a variety of roles, ranging from street canvasser to legal counsel. For the past decade her work has focused on the intersection of law and organizing. Prior to working at NLAN, Sheila served as the Director of Law & Organizing at the Restaurant Opportunities Centers United (ROC United) and before that she practiced immigration law and organized around immigrant detention, prison expansion, and sex workers rights. Sheila joined in 2022.

Jennifer Harford-Vargas (on leave)– Jennifer is an Associate Professor of English at Bryn Mawr College. Her teaching and research focuses on narratives of undocumented migration and representations of dictatorship in literature and popular culture. Her family is from Colombia. She joined the board in 2018.