Julissa Arce
Julissa Arce
Julissa Arce is a best-selling author of My (Underground) American Dream (Entre Las Sombras del Sueño Americano) and Someone Like Me (Alguien Como Yo). She was named one of People en Español’s 25 Most Powerful Women of 2017 and 2019 Woman of the Year by the City of Los Angeles. She is a leading voice in the fights for social justice, immigrant rights and education equality.
Julissa is a contributor for TIME, Buzzfeed News, Crooked Media, CNBC, and one of the hosts of Crooked Conversations. Her book, My Underground American Dream is currently being developed as a television series with producer and actor America Ferrera.
Her commitment to education for all young people led her to co-create the Ascend Educational Fund (AEF) where she serves as chairwoman of the board. AEF is a college scholarship and mentorship program for immigrant students in New York City, regardless of their ethnicity, national original or immigration status. Since its founding in 2012, AEF has awarded over $500,000 in college scholarships.
Prior to becoming an advocate, she built a successful career on Wall Street working for Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch, and had seemingly achieved the American Dream—yet she was not part of what defined American.
Julissa immigrated to America from Mexico at the age of 11 and was undocumented for almost 15 years, some of them spent rising to prominence on Wall Street. She made national and international headlines when she revealed that she had achieved the American Dream of wealth and status at Goldman Sachs while undocumented.
Julissa now uses her inspirational story to change the conversation around immigration. A sought after speaker and political commentator, she gives talks at college campuses across the nation and events such as Tedx, the White House Latino Policy Summit, the Democratic National Convention, Politicon, and the Forbes Reinventing America Summit (alongside Nancy Pelosi, Jessica Alba, and Gayle King).
She has appeared on Oprah’s Book Club, CNN, FOX NEWS, MSNBC, NPR, Fox Business News, Telemundo, Bloomberg TV and Univision among other networks. Her writing has been published on TIME, The New York Times, Vogue, BuzzfeedCrooked, Media, Huffington Post, Fusion, CNN, CNN en Español, The Hill, and Univision. She serves on the board of directors of the National Immigration Law Center.
She has received the Los Angeles Times Latinos de Hoy Emerging Leader Award, the NAHREP’s Vanguard Award, the Hispanic Heritage Foundation Inspira Award, among other recognitions.
In August of 2014, Julissa was officially sworn in as an American citizen. Her story has a joyful ending and she fights so more people can say the same. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and two cats, Nikko and Pancho.
|
Trade Paperback
|
AN INDIE BESTSELLER
Most Anticipated by ELLE • Bustle • Bloomberg • Kirkus • HipLatina • SheReads • BookPage • The Millions • The Mujerista • Ms. Magazine • and more
...Read More
|
The American Dream: From Undocumented to Wall Street & Immigration Advocacy
Julissa’s inspiring story of how she rose through the ladder at Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch and eventually became a nationally best selling author and prominent advocate for immigrant rights, Latino representation, and education equality.
Debunking the Myth of Assimilation in the Workplace
Julissa discusses the challenges of Latininad in the workplace and what this new generation of talent needs to truly be empowered and what past generations can come to terms with and all reflect on a new way forward of inclusivity, leadership, orgullo, and celebration of our uniqueness, origins, and the beauty of the differences that actually make us Americans.
The Case for Rejecting Assimilation
Powerful discussion against the myth that assimilation leads to happiness and belonging for immigrants in America.
Fireside Chat with Julissa
Julissa’s education story as an undocumented Mexican student- and what educators did to help her belong, and what they didn’t do that would have helped her to feel included. Some brief Latino history, children’s books statistics, and conclude with some food for thought to implement in the classrooms and schools.
“CMAS Speaker: ‘History Emboldens Us and Empowers Us’”
“Telling the Truth Wasn’t an Option”
“Borders Kept Our Family Apart—So We Had Three Weddings”
“The Undocumented Woman who Prevailed on Wall Street”
“Julissa Arce: undocumented at Goldman Sachs and breaking a stereotype”
Follow Julissa Arce on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.
Praise for You Sound Like a White Girl
“With bold, clear writing, Arce calls for immigrants and communities of color to reject assimilation, turn away from the white gaze, and embrace their unique cultures, histories, and identities, which deserve celebration. This book is a confident step forward for Arce as a writer and public thinker.”
— BookPage, “2022 Preview: Most Anticipated Nonfiction”“I’m so glad Arce wrote about this important topic, and how we should resist the insidious ways colonialism affects the world.”
— Julianne Escobedo Shepherd, The Meteor“In this unflinching book, Julissa Arce guts the idea that to live in America means immigrants must abandon their own histories, cultures, and languages and assimilate to dominant norms.”
— Ms. MagazineBook This Speaker
x
