Born in Sonora, México, she immigrated to the United States with her parents at the age of two and has been living in Phoenix, Arizona, since. Although she now works as a Marketing Specialist for the Phoenix Council Girl Scouts, she initiated her career right after college thanks to a freelance writing opportunity through Hispanic Access Foundation. Through this experience, Darian gained skills that now help her succeed in her current role, like the ability to be naturally curious while staying true to a person’s story.

“I remember that during my first few interviews, I realized how sensitive storytelling is. People dig into their personal experiences, and sometimes that can bring up a lot of emotions. I had to learn how to navigate those feelings and create a space for the person and communicate that the story had a lot of value.”

For her, working as a freelance writer was a way to channel all the power she felt growing up as an undocumented immigrant.

“I've always been passionate about supporting and uplifting people that are like me, especially Latinas. So, listening to stories of other people who were also undocumented, went against the current, and still found their success was empowering. That's one of the reasons why I loved that role.”

As she recalls, this experience brought her closer to the different experiences of the Latino community in the United States, and at the same time, being part of the organization from an early stage of her career was an opportunity to grow that gave her confidence for future opportunities. Her main takeaway was the ability to create safe spaces for people of all backgrounds.

“I learned about the sensitivity of conversations and that you never know where an interview could go, allowing people to be vulnerable and find their power. It's special that our community is given a space for that. That's one of the things that I love about Hispanic Access because not a lot of organizations take the time for that.”

After several months in the position, she was offered the opportunity to collaborate with the organization as a Freelance Communications Specialist, helping with outreach initiatives and marketing campaigns. Recently, she has stepped more into the creative space, doing graphic work for Latino Conservation Week, merchandise, copy for social media, and other collateral products for the organization.

Latino Conservation Week: Disfrutando y Conservando Nuestra Tierra, is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, and Darian had the tremendous opportunity of designing all the graphics and logos for this massive celebration of the Latino community enjoying the outdoors.

“I was blessed to work with the team on this project. I had the amazing opportunity to design the campaign logo. The fact that I'm able to execute my passions here has been awesome. Working with Hispanic Access has been challenging and rewarding, and through these projects, I've learned a lot of things that I carry on into my full-time role.”

Darian expects to continue pursuing her passions combining writing, storytelling, and art through projects that empower the autonomy of Latino voices in the conservation and education space.

“I love storytelling and doing it through writing and art is one of the best things that I've done for my life. My goal, essentially, is to shift the immigrant narrative, and give people a different outlook to the contributions of our community.”