Cristina Jiménez on Finding Your Voice When the World Tells You to Stay Quiet

Episode Description: MacArthur Fellow Cristina Jimenez shares her powerful journey from living as an undocumented teenager in fear and shame to co-founding United We Dream, the largest immigrant youth-led organization in the United States. In this deeply moving conversation, she reveals how finding her voice didn't happen in isolation—it happened in community, through action, and by refusing to let fear have the final word. Cristina offers profound insights about courage, community organizing, and why moving through fear (rather than eliminating it) is the key to creating lasting change.

What You'll Learn:

• How to build courage when the stakes feel impossibly high
• Why community action multiplies individual bravery
• The difference between hiding for safety vs. organizing for protection
• How to transform personal struggle into systemic change
• Strategies for moving through fear rather than being paralyzed by it
• Why silence and invisibility often increase rather than decrease risk

Key Takeaways:

• Courage isn't about eliminating fear—it's about feeling afraid and taking action anyway
• Individual voices become powerful through collective action and community organizing
• Your lived experience, however difficult, contains wisdom that the world needs
• Moving through fear rather than around it builds the muscle for sustained brave action
• Democracy requires all of us to participate, regardless of background or status

Time Stamps:

• [00:00] Introduction and Cristina's background
• [03:00] What it's like living as an undocumented American
• [08:00] How 9/11 intensified fears in immigrant communities
• [14:00] The transformation from fear to finding her voice
• [19:00] Managing hope and hopelessness in activism
• [24:00] How individual courage becomes collective power
• [30:00] Advice for taking action in overwhelming times

Lift Her Up

Support immigrant communities:

• Donate to United We Dream (UWD) and other immigrant rights organizations
• Contact your representatives about comprehensive immigration reform
• Learn about and support local immigrant-serving organizations in your community

Amplify the conversation:

• Share Cristina's book Dreaming of Home with your book club or social networks
• Attend local town halls and community meetings where immigration policies are discussed
• Follow and share the stories of immigrant organizers and activists

If You Liked This Story, Check Out These Episodes:

Susie Jaramillo: The first Latina CEO of a US media company, who nominated Cristina for The Uplifters

HMelissa Aviles-Ramos: NYC DOE Chancellor, who is championing immigrant student rightsost Bio: Aransas Savas is a leadership coach, behavioral researcher, and host of The Uplifters Podcast. With over 20 years of experience conducting research and design for companies like Disney, Weight Watchers, and Oprah Winfrey, she brings both analytical rigor and deep empathy to conversations about courage and change. Find her on Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, Facebook, or at theuplifterspodcast.com. Subscribe to The Uplifters on YouTube for full video episodes.

Keywords: immigrant rights, activism, courage, community organizing, DACA, undocumented Americans, MacArthur Fellow, social justice, fear, collective action, United We Dream, immigration policy, finding your voice