{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"Behind The Work by Jessica Santana","title":"Dulce Vasquez On Education, Community and Latinidad","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":2966,"description":"Dulce Vasquez was born in Mexico, grew up undocumented in the United States, and went on to study at Northwestern, UCLA, and Sciences Po in Paris. She served as a Los Angeles City Commissioner, ran for City Council in District 9 and State Assembly in District 57 — two of the highest-poverty districts in all of Los Angeles — and built a digital platform that turns complex policy into content that actually connects with the people it's meant to serve. She didn't wait for permission. She decided her community deserved better and showed up.This week, Dulce joins us on Behind The Work.Dulce is a Los Angeles-based content creator, education leader, and former political candidate who uses digital storytelling to break down the issues that shape everyday life — housing, public transportation, education, mental health, and the rights of women and LGBTQ+ communities. She currently serves as Assistant Vice President at Arizona State University, leading strategic partnerships and public engagement. She is a formerly undocumented LGBTQ+ Latina, a five-time marathoner, and one of the most grounded, clear-eyed voices on what civic power actually looks like when it's built from the ground up.In this conversation, we start at the beginning — what she remembers most about those early years, when she realized education could change her life, and where her sense of civic responsibility came from. We talk about what it felt like to navigate elite institutions like Northwestern, UCLA, and Sciences Po as someone who grew up undocumented, and what those spaces taught her about systems, inequality, and who gets to be in the room.We get into the campaigns — what made her decide to run, what economic justice actually looks like at the neighborhood level in South Central, and what it feels like to put yourself forward in those spaces as a formerly undocumented immigrant. We talk about how her identities shape the way she leads, where she found the permission to take up space in a world that...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/BeWs27ZBOKNAjZ63FE09H0yIOg2VSU3UImwarqjXJpw/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS80OGIx/MGUxYjE5N2I1ODIx/NTdlM2UyNGRlYjg1/MmFiZS5qcGc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}