Sociologist Ariana Valle spoke with 112 Latina and Puerto Rican activists in central Florida during the 2016 presidential election and learned how they supported their communities in a region politically and racially hostile to Latinos. The study was published recently in the UC Press journal Aztlan.

Melinda Guzman, Cathy Rodriguez Aguirre and Lydia Ramirez attended UC Davis at different times, pursued different majors in the College of Letters and Science, and followed different paths to successful careers in law, business advocacy and banking. Each was named to The Sacramento Bee’s inaugural list of Top 25 Latino Change Makers for leading positive transformations in their communities.