Lorella Praeli is vice president of Community Change. Previously, she was deputy national political director at the ACLU, where she fought to defend and expand the rights of immigrants and refugees. She mobilized the Latinx vote as Hillary Clinton’s national Latino vote director and served as United We Dream’s director of advocacy and policy.

Originally from Peru, Praeli immigrated to the United States at the age of 11 to receive medical treatment. After advocating for the adoption of anti-bullying measures at the legislative and community levels, she joined the student immigrant rights movement and came out as “undocumented and unafraid.”

Her advocacy efforts and leadership with United We Dream played a key role in forcing the Obama administration to deliver reprieve from deportation and work permits to 1.4 million DREAMers through the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. Praeli graduated summa cum laude from Quinnipiac University with a B.A. in political science and sociology.

Expertise: Immigration policy and politics, immigrant youth movement, DREAM Act, youth organizing

Location: New York, N.Y.

Marisol Bello, Director of Communications:

Email: mbello@communitychange.org

Phone: 202-997-3208

Domenica Ghanem, Media Relations Manager:

Email: dghanem@communitychange.org

Phone: 609-457-5663

Twitter: @lorellapraeli

Praeli on Up with Chris Hayes: ‘DREAMers’ coming out of the shadows