Araceli Garcia grew up on the South Side of San Antonio and is the daughter and granddaughter of Mexican immigrants. As the culmination of her hard work and the sacrifices of her family, Araceli graduated from Stanford in 2020 with a B.A. in Chicanx/Latinx studies and a minor in education. During each of her undergraduate summers, Araceli returned to San Antonio where she worked with RAICES, aiding detained immigrants seeking asylum. Araceli is the first person in her family to attend college, and upon graduation, was awarded Stanford’s John Gardner Fellowship for Public Service to work with IDRA, a non-profit founded and based in San Antonio focused on research and policy that advances equitable educational opportunities for marginalized and minoritized students. As an inaugural IDRA Education Policy Fellow, Araceli, alongside community stakeholders, identified and pursued laws and policies at the local and state level that ensure equitable and excellent schools for emergent bilingual and immigrant students. 

Araceli has received several awards for her academic excellence and community service. These include: Campus Compact Newman Civic Fellow Award, Jerry I. Porras Award for Visionary Leadership, Liman Public Interest Law Fellowship, Chappell-Lougee Undergraduate Research Grant, Stanford Chicanx/Latinx Emerging Leader Award, UCLA Law Fellow, Gates Millennium Scholarship, Jack Kent Cooke College and Graduate Scholarships, Dorothy Steele Award for Community Outreach and Engagement, and Texas Law Equal Justice Scholarship. 

Currently, Araceli is a student at the University of Texas School of Law interested in immigration law, public defense, and education equity. When not reading from casebooks, Araceli enjoys taking advantage of pro bono opportunities, knitting while listening to audiobooks, and spending time with her fiancé, friends and family.