Perla Vázquez is no stranger to activism or feminism. She recalls being a 15-year-old activist in her hometown, advocating for teens’ rights and later for women’s rights in her own community. Vázquez, born and raised in Mexico City, where she still lives, took her passions and made them her career.

“I think it’s very important that every person—and every woman—can decide for themselves who they share their lives with,” Vázquez says.

This sentiment is, indeed, at the heart of her work. As a young activist, she was a director at ELIGE, a feminist youth organization in Mexico, which advocates for sexual and reproductive rights for young people. Vázquez studied political science at the Autonomous Metropolitan University and has her master’s degree in international cooperation for development from the Mora Institute.

Vázquez worked as a regional specialist in the Americas for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights Plan International, and she is a current board member on FRIDA, a young feminist fund.

Vázquez currently works for the Seattle International Foundation’s Central America & Mexico Youth Fund (The CAMY Fund). She joined the Seattle International Foundation team in 2017 as a project manager for The CAMY Fund’s Child Marriage Initiative, and she is now the CAMY Fund’s deputy program director.

Read the full story about Perla Vázquez, Deputy Program Director at the Seattle International Foundation CAMY Fund by Arielle Dreher at Global Washington.