Lilian “Lili” Serrano a proud fronteriza whose family has resided in the Tijuana-San Diego border region for three generations. She spent her teens in Oxnard, California, an agricultural town in Ventura County. Lilian has over a decade of experience working in community education, human rights advocacy, and social justice work. She became civically active as a High School student in 2006, when a series of anti-immigrant proposals in the U.S. Congress sparked a national mobilization for immigrant rights.

Her personal and professional expertise have allowed her to build and maintain strong ties in north San Diego County with community members impacted by immigration policies and farmworker families. Lilian earned her B.A. in Human Development and B.A. in Spanish from California State University San Marcos. Her professional experience includes serving as Co-Chair and Steering Committee member of the Southern Border Communities Coalition, Chair of the San Diego Immigrant Rights Consortium, Coordinator of Alianza Comunitaria and Co-Director of Universidad Popular.

During Lili’s time as Co-Chair of SBCC, she has helped to shape the Southern Border Communities Coalition and ensure that human rights are respected in the border region. Lili was instrumental in the formation of the New Border Vision, our framework for governing our borders that expands public safety, protects human rights, and welcomes all people who live, work or travel to the border region. Lili was also part of the team who traveled to Del Rio, TX to bear witness and document the human rights abuses that Haitian migrants faced at the hands of the border patrol in 2021.

As for Vicki Gaubeca, SBCC’s previous director, we wish her the best in her next chapter as the Associate Director of U.S. Immigration and Border Policy at Human Rights Watch! If you want to keep up with Vicki, you can read her blogs at Human Rights Watch.