Oral history interview, Elena Aranda, 2013 (video and transcript)

Elena Aranda is the director of the Compañeras program at El Centro AMISTAD in Boulder, which helps to empower immigrant women, including those who are undocumented. She was born in Guadalajara, Mexico in 1988 and was the first person in her family to come to the U.S., which was a difficult adjustment. Her husband works in the health field, and she is a therapist, having received an MA in Counseling in Mexico. She describes the activities of her program, including nutritional, health, and English classes, and the history of AMISTAD’s founding. She talks about how she tries to maintain her cultural identity as a Mexican and the challenges she and her children have faced in Boulder, the struggles of undocumented people, and the racism that exists.