#66: Rocio Lopez - A Product Designer & a DACA Recipient is Standing Up for All DREAMers
Breaking Into Startups1 Loka 2017

#66: Rocio Lopez - A Product Designer & a DACA Recipient is Standing Up for All DREAMers

Rocio Lopez came to the U.S. as an undocumented minor and lived on the East Side of Palo Alto. For years, she and her family have gone through so much struggle until the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals or DACA was signed by President Obama, a program granting temporary work permits to immigrants who came to the U.S. as children illegally. Recently, DACA, has been repealed by the Trump administration. And Rocio is one of the 800,000 DREAMers that are going to be affected by this decision. The average DACA recipient is 26 years old who came to the U.S. at 6 years. 91% are employed, and 100% have no criminal record. They pay $500 to renew every two years and contribute $800 M per year to the government. Rocio is a Product Designer and an amazing speaker. She considers herself an American who is willing to die for her country. But why is America trying to persecute her along with other hundreds of thousands of DREAMers? Now is the time for you to show you care. We hope for you to bring two takeaways from this episode: 1. Meet other DREAMers. 2. Make sure you call your members of Congress to pass the DREAM Act over the next six months.

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#28: Rodney Urquhart - How a 16-year-old High School Dropout became a Software Engineer at Slack

#28: Rodney Urquhart - How a 16-year-old High School Dropout became a Software Engineer at Slack

Rodney Urquhart grew up in a North Philly neighborhood ridden with gang violence and effects of the crack epidemic. After seeing people around him get involved with gangs and crime, he realized that s...

25 Helmi 20171h 51min

#27: Jotaka Eaddy - From Senior Advisor at NAACP to Head of Government Affairs at a Tech Startup

#27: Jotaka Eaddy - From Senior Advisor at NAACP to Head of Government Affairs at a Tech Startup

Jotaka Eaddy is a concrete example that you can come from political and social activism, take those exact same skills, and use them everyday to help build a business that creates change. Even back as...

19 Helmi 20171h 12min

#26: Charles Pridgen - Account Executive at Loggly & Founder of BPN

#26: Charles Pridgen - Account Executive at Loggly & Founder of BPN

A Baltimore-native, Charles Pridgen majored in International Business and Finance, but realizing that he didn’t fit into the financial field he pursued a career in sales and eventually decided to brea...

17 Helmi 201736min

#25: Ty Olatoye - How to Build Genuine Relationships & Land a Job

#25: Ty Olatoye - How to Build Genuine Relationships & Land a Job

Influenced by a strong Nigerian culture of excellence, education and faith, Ty moved from Arizona to San Francisco in search of that ONE opportunity that would push him every single day. Currently, Ty...

13 Helmi 20171h 19min

#24: Divine - The journey from going in and out of prison to Breaking Into Tech

#24: Divine - The journey from going in and out of prison to Breaking Into Tech

A Newport-native, Divine started dealing drugs at 13, got incarcerated at 18, and found himself not only locked up physically in federal prison, but also, in a psychological cycle of recidivism. Alw...

7 Helmi 20171h 54min

#22: Idalin Bobe - Community Organizer who broke into Tech and became a Tech Activist

#22: Idalin Bobe - Community Organizer who broke into Tech and became a Tech Activist

Growing up in one of the poorest zip codes in the U.S., Idalin wanted to bring change and put social justice in the forefront. From North Philly to Cali, Idalin wanted to break into tech so she could ...

5 Helmi 20171h 12min

#23: Rita Henderson - Who broke into startups as a Teen Mom

#23: Rita Henderson - Who broke into startups as a Teen Mom

Growing up in one of the poorest areas in Philadelphia, Rita Henderson broke a ton of barriers as a single mom proving to the society that she was more than just a statistic. Moving from North Philly ...

5 Helmi 201755min

#21: Mo Woods - Ball is Life: Pro Basketball Player (6' 10" in) who became a Designer

#21: Mo Woods - Ball is Life: Pro Basketball Player (6' 10" in) who became a Designer

Maurice is a 6'10" Richmond, California-native, legendary designer, and former professional basketball player who worked at several tech companies including Microsoft and Yahoo. He is the Founder of I...

31 Tammi 20171h 6min