Keila Magana

Ms. Magana is entering her second year at Southwestern Law School this fall.  Ms. Magana’s interest in civil rights stemmed from her parents’ experience in leaving their respective Central American countries to attain a better life for their family.  The hardships that her parents faced in coming to the United States has inspired Ms. Magana to pursue her legal education, with the hope of becoming a judge in order to further gender equality.  Ms. Magana believes that becoming an advocate for the underrepresented, in their immigration issues, will be an important first stop towards making an impact in the Latino community.  During her second semester at Southwestern, Ms. Magana worked with SALEF, a non-profit organization that serves the Latino community through legal and educational services.  While at SALEF, Ms. Magana expended efforts to kickstart an event aimed at providing legal resources, such as a DACA workshop for immigrant high school students.  This summer, Ms. Magana will be working as an extern for the Honorable S. James Otero at the U.S. District Court, Central District of California.  After law school, Ms. Magana hopes to further her interest in civil rights law by working with the ACLU or Public Counsel.