Born and raised in Denver, Blanca's organizing career began when she was a sophomore at Denver West High School. She continued her youth organizing work throughout her undergraduate career at the University of Denver where she received a BA in Political Science and Spanish as well as a BSBA in International Business. After spending time in the workforce, including serving as the Statewide ASSET (SB13-033) Education and Parent Engagement Coordinator for the Colorado Department of Higher Education, she returned to academia to complete her MA in Educational Policy from the 抖阴旅行射 Boulder School of Education. She currently identifies as a first-generation, Latinx, fourth-year doctoral candidate raised in a single-parent household and the proud daughter of immigrants. She brings +13 years of Community and Youth Organizing training experience with Together Colorado, United We DREAM, and the PICO National Network. Blanca is the co-founder of a local Colorado non-profit called INSPiRE, whose mission is to ignite, train, and invest in youth to become Change Agents in their schools, families and communities. Her research interests include the role of youth in social justice movements and the intersection of community organizing and decolonial theory.