Angelica Peña serves as the Director of Immigration Program Administration within Direct Services. She oversees the unit's grant administration, program evaluation, and the network of immigration and citizenship partners. In addition, she leads our national citizenship capacity building portfolio. She is responsible for the strategic development, planning and implementation of a program tasked with increasing capacity for organizations providing naturalization services to under-served immigrant communities across the country.
Prior to joining Advancing Justice-LA, she served as the CA Deputy Director for NALEO Educational Fund, where for five years she led their statewide civic engagement initiatives, working directly with the Latino community and key stakeholders on issues related to citizenship and voting. Angelica spent three years in the Bay Area pursuing her graduate degree and working for Emerge CA and The Volunteer Center of San Francisco; she also previously interned at the Urban Institute in Washington DC.
Angelica holds a Masters in Public Affairs and Practical Politics from the University of San Francisco and a Bachelors in Political Science and Latin American Studies from the University of California, Los Angeles.
