Olivia M. Peña, Esq. (She/Her/Ella) is Co-Director of the Young Center’s Child Advocate Program, where she helps lead a passionate and zealous interdisciplinary team of attorneys and social workers fighting for the rights and best interests of immigrant children. Before joining the Young Center in 2014, Olivia worked with vulnerable communities seeking humanitarian parole, asylum, and other forms of legal protection from violence and atrocities around the world. She represented and fought for the rights of children, families, and individuals seeking safety. At the Young Center, Olivia has served hundreds of immigrant children, who like her, traveled at a young age to the United States in search of a better life. She has lived most of her life along the U.S.-Mexico border, witnessing firsthand the issues and inequities impacting border communities. An expert on issues surrounding immigrant children, Olivia has participated in panels and roundtables with non-profit organizations, members of Congress, and governmental agencies. She has been featured in local, national, and international media outlets including NBC, Univision, Forbes, NPR, and the BBC. Olivia earned her J.D. at the University of Houston Law Center and her B.S. from the University of Texas at Brownsville & Texas Southmost College.