Dr. Carolina Valdivia has given eight keynote addresses and over 60 presentations to various audiences across the country, including students, their families, educators, counselors, administrators, social service providers, amongst others. More recently, she gave talks at Brown University, UC Berkeley, UC Irvine, UC Santa Barbara, CSU Monterey Bay, CSU San Marcos, and New Jersey City University. She has also given talks at UC San Diego, the University of Washington, Northwestern University, CSU Dominguez Hills, Santa Clara University, among other schools and organizations.
For speaking engagement requests, please reach out at: c.valdivia@uci.edu
Her presentations cover a wide range of topics, including an overview of U.S. immigration policy and enforcement practices, the educational experiences of undocumented students (K-12, college, or graduate school), the mental health consequences of growing up undocumented, recommendations for school personnel on how to best support undocumented & mixed status students, an overview of undocumented youth-led organizing efforts, the consequences of immigration enforcement on young adults and their families, and much more.
Dr. Valdivia draws on over two decades of professional, research, advocacy, and personal experience with the topic of immigration, including more than 300 in-depth interviews with:
- Undocumented graduate students (about their experiences applying to and pursuing graduate school, concerns about the future, work opportunities, and more)
- Undocumented young adults and their families (about their daily routines, mental health, educational trajectories, aspirations, responsibilities, and more)
- Undocumented high school students (about their experiences navigating high school under the current political climate, decisions around disclosure and concealment, plans post-high school, and more)
- Educators, counselors, and administrators (about the nature of their work, resources available, challenges and barriers they encounter, and more)
- Immigrant rights organizers (about the factors that motivate them to become involved, their work/experience, needs, ways to support their work, and more)
- Families who reunite in the United States undetected post-deportation (about their reunification decisions, experiences with separation and deportation, difficulties associated with legally reentering the country, and more)
- Undocumented college students (about their educational trajectories, as well as their basic needs around food, health, transportation, career development, housing, and legal services)