Karen Lazcano is a junior at Yale majoring in Ethnicity, Race, and Migration. A proud Latina, Karen hails from the great state of Illinois. Karen is a first-generation Mexican-American and college student. Her motto in life is “El que no vive para servir, no sirve para vivir,” which she believes embodies her passion for serving communities around her. She has previously interned at the US House of Representatives and the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California. Karen is passionate about immigration law and policy. Her experience working on DJ v. State of California at the ACLU SoCal inspired her to pursue a senior project researching voting rights for undocumented parents in school board elections. 

At Yale, Karen is involved with MEChA de Yale and is a sister of Kappa Kappa Gamma. She also works as a student translator for the Yale Law School. Karen loves having homemade tamales and other Mexican goodies whenever she is home. Her favorites also include snuggling with her shih tzus, Galilea and Principe, sending hand-written notes, karaoke singing to Selena, and live tweeting events (regular tweeting is cool too).