Dana Sanchez Aguilar
Undergraduate Student Researcher
Dana Sanchez Aguilar (she/her) is a fourth year undergraduate student at the University of California, Los Angeles, double majoring in Political Science and Public Affairs, with a strong interest in social work and youth advocacy. She supports the HOPE Court research team, which studies the trauma-informed dependency court in Compton.
As a first-generation Latina, Dana is drawn to culturally responsive, trauma-informed, and strengths-based approaches that center young people's voices. She is particularly interested in supporting dual-system youth involved in both the child welfare and juvenile justice systems. Dana is passionate about learning from and advocating alongside youth to help create spaces where they feel supported, understood, and empowered. She plans to pursue a Master of Social Work (MSW) and build a career supporting youth impacted by social systems.