Vicky Barron-Zuniga

Vicky is a first generation daughter to a Mexican undocumented Immigrant mother. They were born in Othello,WA and grew up in Finley, WA in a rural town, now living in Tri-Cities, WA. They faced a lot of challenges growing up where they were different from the majority of the people, experienced racism and xenophobia through out their life. They always felt the pressure of being different and having to survive. In 2014 they got their CNA to become a caregiver, working with elderly and disabled people. In 2015 they moved to Martinez,CA and worked at a pawn shop providing collateral loans to people in a low income community. They moved back to Washington in 2019. Started volunteering in Tri-Cities, WA to organize and advocate for sexual reproductive health, womxn, and LGBTQ+ communities.They joined Planned Parenthood in 2019 as a HCA to provide services and resources to patients in the clinic that helped undocumented and low income people apply for funding to get free or reduced healthcare. In 2020 they joined the education department as a bilingual education specialist to provided education in sexual and reproductive health, reproductive and social justice to adult’s and youth in the community in english and Spanish. Youth also learned how to advocate for change at local, state and national levels. After Planned Parenthood, in 2021 they joined AmeriCorps for a year in the same community that they grew up in to build and implement a new youth mentoring program for middle schoolers. As WAISN's Advocacy Coordinator Vicky looks forward to standing up for equity, inclusion and justice while helping create policy space for immigrants and refugees to bring impacted communities to the center.They hope to create a space where everyone is accepted as they are and given human rights.