Kid City Hope Place

Petrona Garcia (she and they)

“We must break cycles of generational trauma and oppression, by teaching students of color about self-advocacy and shifting the culture of social justice activism. It is essential to allow youth of color the opportunity to be co-facilitators in all matters related to their communities and creating social change.”

Kid City Hope Place is dedicated to dismantling systemic obstacles to higher education for low-income, first-generation students of color. Through Youth Participatory Action Research, it involves high schoolers in research, policy advocacy, and community education, shifting power dynamics to include youth and communities of color. The organization's success promises an LA County where education, mental health, and career opportunity policies are shaped by youth voices, uplifting historically marginalized communities.

Petrona Garcia is the current High School Program Coordinator for Kid City. She is a UC Santa Barbara alum where she double majored in Sociology and Feminist Studies with a Black Studies minor. Her journey to higher education started in 2016 as a high school junior in Kid City’s College Prep Program. She remained engaged through KC’s advocacy efforts as part of the College for All Coalition. It has been a complete full-circle moment for Petrona to return as staff and support other first-generation students applying to college!

At UCSB, Petrona co-founded the Collective of Pueblos Originarios in Diaspora (CPOD), one of the only student orgs in the country fostering community and empowerment for Indigenous college students from Latin America. Additionally, she served in many capacities as a student organizer surrounding labor and environmental justice, culture preservation, and more. She is of Chuj and Q’anjob’al Maya descent and her cultural ties inspire her dedication to cultivating spaces of joy and liberation.