Miguel Angel Pimentel Davila

Miguel Pimentel was born in Puruaran, Michoacán Mexico, but came to the United States when he was 11 years old. He graduated from California State University East Bay (CSUEB) in 2012 with a double B.A in Ethnic Studies and Spanish. As an undocumented student in college, he was able to navigate the system in which he became the first in his family to attend and graduate from a 4-year university. He qualified to apply under Obama’s Administration Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) Executive Order that allowed him to work legally in the U.S.During his undergraduate journey at CSUEB, Miguel was very involved on campus. He joined Movimiento Estudiantil Chican@ de Aztlán (MEChA), Students for Quality Education (SQE), Chicanx Latinx Graduation Committee, and right before he graduated, he founded Leading Educated Allied Dreamers (LEAD), a campus organization that provided awareness and support for undocumented students. Being part of those organizations, it validated Miguel’s experiences as an undocumented student and his existence in this country. After successfully graduating from CSUEB, he began to work in the education field. He worked at a public charter school in East Oakland for three and half years where he worn many hats, serving as an Office Assistant, Parent Activities Coordinator, 6th and 7th grade Advisor, College and Academic Counselor’s Aide, After School Educator, and Executive Assistant to the Assistant Principal of Middle School Students. He has looked for professional development opportunities where in 2015 he was selected among 200 people around the world to participate at a Family Engagement Institute at Harvard University. In May 2017, he was selected to participate at a Conference in New York City with other 120 undocumented students (Dreamers) across the nation. In 2017 he was offered a job at his alma mater at Cal State East Bay to work as an Administrative Support Coordinator for the Sophomore Transition Enrichment Program (STEP), a campus program to support with the retention and degree attainment of second year students. In 2018, Miguel took a new role in the STEP Program and became the program’s Academic Counselor where he promotes and advocates for all students’ academic success, personal-social growth, and career development. He recently graduated in May 2019 with his M.A Degree in Education/Counseling and Student Personnel from San Jose State University’s Counselor Education Graduate Program and is working on clearing his Pupil Personnel Services (PPS) Credential, Child Welfare and Attendance (CWA) Credential and the Associate Professional Clinical Counselor Credential (APCC) from the Commission on Teacher Credentialing and the Board of Behavioral Sciences from the State of California. He is committed to work with diverse student population as a future counselor in a K-12 school setting or at a college/university level. He plans to apply to the Doctorate Degree (Ed.D) Program in Educational Leadership and Social Justice at Cal State East Bay in the future. Miguel have had many experiences that have contributed to his interest in and preparedness for a career as a counselor. In the summer of 2005, he was invited by the Migrant Education Program to apply to an academic summer program (The Migrant Student Leadership Institute) known as MSLI at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). MSLI was a program that prepares high school students with the knowledge and resources to go to college. While at MSLI, he learned about undocumented students in college, the different types of higher education, financial aid, different test requirements, bilingual education, immigrant rights, and a lot more. The youngest of one hundred participants, he left the program ready to return to his East Bay community and make a change by spreading his knowledge he had acquired. Miguel has been a speaker for several occasions. He was the keynote speaker at his former elementary school in Puruaran, Michoacán, Mexico in 2016. He was the co-keynote speaker at the Chicano Latino Graduation at CSUEB in 2017. Keynote student speaker at San Jose State University UndocuWelcome Day in 2017. In 2018, he was initiated to be part of Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society at San Jose State University. In 2019, he was nominated and selected to receive the Cal State East Bay (CSUEB) 40 under 40 award. The 40 Under 40 award program identifies alumni age 40 or younger who have demonstrated dedication, excellence anddevelopment in their professional, philanthropic and personal endeavors.

UndocuProfessional to me means that it is our responsability to share our knowledge and wisdom with others in order to create change.