Joana Barrera is currently managing the North County Santa Maria IMPORTA office. She was born and raised by immigrant parents, and is the youngest in the family. She attended UCSB straight out of Santa Maria High School, and went on to study political science. Throughout her college career, she participated in student government through CALPIRG, Circle K Club, and the Associated Student Body. She served as a 4th year University-Owned Housing Senator, and then continued to be involved with local election campaigns. After graduating with a B.A. in American Politics, she met Joan Hartmann and was invited to work on her campaign in Guadalupe, CA, which was convenient seeing that it was close to her home. Then, she continued her work through CAUSE as a community organizer in Santa Maria. She realized then that there were so many issues to tackle relative to the farmworker and immigrant community. Now, she is happy to be on the IMPORTA staff because she is able to learn the immigration law policies at depth and serve her community as needed.