Victoria Rios, Northern Nevada Director

My name is Victoria Rios, I am the proud daughter of immigrant parents from Guanajuato, Mexico. Growing up, my parents instilled in me the value of faith and giving back to my community. As a Mexican-American woman, I have first-hand experience of seeing the injustices that immigrant communities go through. I have seen a lack of jobs, misinformation, inadequate education, low and inaccessible services/resources, language barriers, and many other forms of injustices. The lack of job opportunities available for people that looked like me led me to work in the corporate world. I thought I could open up doors by entering that field of work. However, I realized that it wasn’t making any difference in the lives of those I deeply cared about in my community. 

Eventually, I decided to work in local government to dismantle barriers my community faced in accessing services among other things. In my role at the  Nevada’s school districts, I served as a liaison between the faculty and non-English speaking parents. At the City of Reno, I was an advocate for victims of crime. Oftentimes, survivors needed an advocate to provide all community resources and help navigate the services. Most recently, I worked as a regional representative of a United States Senator. I again found myself advocating for the immigrant community by providing information and education about the resources available at local, state, and federal levels. This work allowed me to see how crucial civic participation mattered and the need to educate voters in our country.

In 2019, I joined ACTIONN (currently FIANV) because my faith was calling me to do transformational work. I was excited to join an organization that spoke to my values and allowed me to celebrate my faith. In my role as the Civic Engagement Manager, I  engaged the Latinx community in a very authentic way. I was meeting people where they were at in our community and educating them about the electoral process, registering voters, and getting out the vote. 

At this moment, Latinx communities must continue to fight for immigrant rights and challenge those in power. Our statewide organizing work led by communities of faith gives me hope for positive change. This is why I am so excited to become FIANV’s Northern Director. In this role, I have the opportunity to fulfill God’s plan to create a better future in our state and stand up to protect our immigrant communities.  

I am calling on you to join me in this historic moment in our country to put your faith into action and join us in this work.