Katiuska Pimentel Vargas

Katiuska Pimentel Vargas was born in Peru, migrated to the U.S. at the age of 15, and endured multiple obstacles, including learning English and adjusting to a new country while working as a food server in high school. After college, she worked as a community organizer advocating for immigrant rights by increasing their access to legal services. As a first generation student, Katiuska continues to advocate and promote diversity within the legal field by tutoring second-year law students in property law, and completing an in-house diversity externship program at DoorDash, Inc. In 2019, Katiuska’s niece, Keyla, was one of the fatal victims of the Gilroy Garlic Festival shooting, which inspired her advocacy for gun control. In 2020, she was recognized by the California legislature for her advocacy and community organizing work. Last year, she worked on a community beautification project and the creation of a mural in honor of the victims of the Gilroy Garlic Festival shooting. She will be graduating law school with honors and hopes to increase the representation of Latinas in the law. Katiuska is a 3L at the University of San Francisco Law School.