Portland, Oregon, United States
My name is Sofia Piva Ramos. I graduated Lewis & Clark College with a Bachelor’s in International Affairs. I am originally from Costa Rica so I’m fluent in Spanish. I am interested in perusing Immigration law, International and Human Rights law and diplomacy as career paths. I currently work as a DOJ Accredited Representative (in training) at Latino Network in Portland, Oregon. As a DOJ Rep. in training I collaborate with internal teams and community partners to support personalized and culturally specific client services. As well as helping with the coordination and facilitation of Know Your Rights and Asylum Workshops with Latino Network’s advocacy team. I also navigate clients and submit referrals through the appropriate portals to provide them with immigration legal services. In my previous role as a Research Assistant I contribute to projects focused on the government repression of NGOs. My work included data collection, analysis, and literature reviews to support faculty-led research. I continue to be passionate about research and data collection in the International Affairs field.
Collaborate with internal teams and community partners to support holistic and culturally specific client services. Participate in Know Your Rights and Asylum Workshops facilitated by Latino Network’s advocacy team, helping with coordination, community outreach and facilitation. Navigate clients and submit referrals through the Equity Corps of Oregon (ECO) portal for appropriate immigration legal services. Stay current on immigration law and policy changes through ongoing training
New Student Orientation leaders take on a semester long role as peer mentors for the incoming class of first year and transfer students. I underwent an application process followed by group interviews of role-playing scenarios of mentee-mentor instances were I showed my ability to not only be a representative of Lewis & Clark College, but also a peer leader to those students that are in need of an experienced friend on campus. I am to hold activities off and on campus as well as 1:1 meetings with each of my 24 mentees in order to create a community with overall values of friendship, empathy, respect, and support.
During the Summer of 2024 I’ve been working as an intern with the amazing team of lawyers and legal assistants over at the Child Services department of IRC SeaTac. I’ve used my skills in spanish and research to help interpret client meetings as well as translating legal documents. I’ve worked hand in hand with the lawyers to learn about the immigration process for unaccompanied minors coming from all over the world into the U.S. I’ve witnessed court proceedings and how the accomplished lawyers at the IRC do their best to help clients obtain legal immigration status. Contributing by creating age-appropriate, educational documents for our clients to have on topics such as: labor trafficking, consent and healthy relationships, impacts of substance use, social media safety… etc has been incredibly rewarding. It continues to be an incredible learning opportunity for me as I keep exploring future career goals and build my experience on the International Affairs and the immigration field.