Hispanic Heritage Month Event
Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month with LUCHA!
Join us Tuesday, September 15, 11 a.m.–1 p.m. in Helland Multipurpose Room, H.1002 to hear Keynote Speaker Juventino Meza. Meza presents across the country on immigration, DACA, LGBTQ identity, higher education, and the power of civic engagement.
Event details:
We will begin welcoming attendees at 11 a.m. When the program concludes there will be time for a Q&A and discussion. We hope to see you there—stay tuned for more details.
Juventino Meza Bio:
Juventino Meza is a formerly undocumented, queer immigrant who became one of Minnesota’s first undocumented law school graduates and is now a licensed attorney, nationally recognized speaker, and advocate for justice, democracy, and belonging.
Born in Mexico and raised in Minnesota, Juventino navigated life, school, and activism without legal status. As a founding member of NAVIGATE MN, he helped build Minnesota’s first immigrant-led effort to support undocumented youth through leadership, higher education, and policy change. He played a key role in the movement that led to President Obama’s creation of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) in 2012 and the passage of the Minnesota Prosperity (Dream) Act in 2013.
Juventino has worked at the intersection of immigration, public policy, Latino communities, and democracy for over two decades. He co-founded Capitol Pathways, a program to diversify Minnesota’s policy sector, and helped pass key initiatives such as the Minnesota Green Bank in 2022, a landmark investment in environmental and economic equity.
A longtime LGBTQ and immigrant rights advocate, Juventino brings lived experience and legal expertise to every space he enters. His leadership has spanned organizing, nonprofit executive roles, legal advocacy, and public appointments — including service on the Minnesota Council on Latino Affairs (MCLA), Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy (MCEA), and Portico Healthnet.
Juventino has been honored with numerous awards, including the Ohtli Award (the highest recognition from the Mexican government to Mexicans abroad), Immigrant of Distinction from MN-Dakotas AILA, and Augsburg University’s Decade Award.
He holds a Juris Doctor, with a Native American Law and Sovereignty Certificate, from Mitchell Hamline School of Law and a B.A. from Augsburg University. He is licensed to practice law in the Minnesota Supreme Court, the 8th Circuit, the Minnesota District Court, and the Western District Court of Wisconsin.