This week we are speaking with Yesenia Delgado. Yesenia will share the rich history of her work in the movement to end domestic violence by working with those who perpetrate the violence.

Yesenia Delgado was born in 1998 in Las Cruces, NM, to parents who immigrated from Mexico in pursuit of the American dream. In 2015, she was part of the varsity tennis team that led Gadsden High School to the NM State Tournament for the first time in 35 years. During her senior year, she competed in New Mexico’s 2016 Educators Rising State Conference, where she won second place in the K-3 Children’s Literature competition with a book she wrote and illustrated using traditional watercolor. Yesenia graduated in the top ten percentile of her class and received several scholarships, including the Regent’s Success Scholarship, the Ralph W. Dressel Memorial Endowed Scholarship, and the Hiram Hadley Scholarship, which enabled her to begin her studies at NMSU as a Crimson Scholar. She pursued a major in English with a focus on creative writing and minors in English literature and art.

In 2021, Yesenia worked with Border Servant Corps, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting immigrants and refugees while promoting social justice along the U.S. - Mexico border. July of 2022, she began her career at La Casa, Inc., a nonprofit organization providing support and services to victims of domestic violence. She started as a compliance monitor for their Behavior Intervention Program, which aims to address and reduce domestic violence by working with individuals who perpetrate domestic violence. Four months later, Yesenia stepped up to the challenge and expanded her role to facilitate La Casa’s first Spanish-speaking BIP group. In July of 2023, she was promoted to supervisor of the program.