Advocating for the Rights of Undocumented Immigrants with Cristina Jiménez Moreta

Getting Better with Jonathan Van Ness · 2025-06-16

This week on The Monday Edit: JVN sat down with Cristina Jiménez Moreta to talk about her new book Dreaming of Home: How We Turn Fear Into Pride, Power, and Real Change and the work being done at United We Dream, the country’s largest youth-led immigrant organization - which Cristina co-founded. Plus our breakdown of the Tony awards and our HBOTW!

Cristina Jiménez Moreta is an award-winning community organizer, political strategist, prominent advocate for social justice, and author. She is the Co-Founder and former Executive Director of United We Dream (UWD), the nation's largest immigrant youth-led organization. Cristina immigrated to the U.S. from Ecuador with her family in 1998, seeking a better life. She grew up undocumented in Queens, New York, and has since become a powerful voice in the fight for immigrant rights and equity.

Cristina is currently a Distinguished Lecturer at the City College of New York's Colin Powell School, where she also co-teaches Leadership for Democracy and Social Justice (LDSJ). Under her leadership, UWD grew into a formidable network of over one million members, shifting the national conversation around immigration and helping secure policy changes at both the local and national levels. Cristina played a pivotal role in United We Dream's successful campaign that led to the implementation of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) under President Obama.

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Getting Better with Jonathan Van Ness

Join Jonathan Van Ness (Queer Eye) each week for their next exciting endeavor! “Getting Better with Jonathan Van Ness" is here to empower listeners (and also make them laugh) by using curiosity as a tool for personal growth. In a world that often feels overwhelming—where it’s easy to feel stuck, frustrated, or helpless—Getting Better offers a lifeline. Each week, Jonathan Van Ness, alongside experts and thought leaders, guides us through our shared challenges—confidence, productivity, mental health, happiness, relationships, and more—helping us emerge thriving, invigorated, and most importantly - a little bit better.

Join us every Wednesday for brand new episodes, and catch full video episodes on YouTube! And tune in every Monday for brand new episodes of our companion show: The Monday Edit, where JVN and senior producer Chris giving you a behind the scenes look at the creation of Getting Better, hot takes on today’s headlines, and all in all share with you how the sausage gets made!

Curious about bringing your brand to life on the show? Email [email protected]

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