About Primera Generación

Mission

Our mission is simple, achieve educational justice by providing equal opportunities to educational resources.

Our Beliefs

  • We believe Latino students deserve the opportunity to make educated decisions about their future
  • We believe Latino students are capable of earning a post-secondary education
  • We do not believe that race and ethnicity dictate one’s level of success

Our Values

  • Education
  • Equal opportunity
  • Social, economic, and racial Justice
  • Community, and a sense of belonging

Our Beliefs

  • We believe Latino students deserve the opportunity to make educated decisions about their future
  • We believe Latino students are capable of earning a post-secondary education
  • We do not believe that race and ethnicity dictate one’s level of success

Our Values

  • Education
  • Equal opportunity
  • Social, economic, and racial Justice
  • Community, and a sense of belonging

Primera Generación is an organization designed for Latinx students who have not yet graduated or are transitioning into their first year of college. Though Primera Generación is intended to educate all Latinos and close the academic gap, it specifically targets first-generation high school graduates and first-generation college-going students. In educating all, we hope to reach and inspire those who have fallen victims to systems of oppression and biased educational practices present in their schools.

Primera Generación is an organization designed for Latinx students who have not yet graduated or are transitioning into their first year of college. Though Primera Generación is intended to educate all Latinos and close the academic gap, it specifically targets first-generation high school graduates and first-generation college-going students. In educating all, we hope to reach and inspire those who have fallen victims to systems of oppression and biased educational practices present in their schools.

I know that a post-secondary education is not for everyone, but it can be for many of us [Latinos] and we are not taking advantage of it. And what I have discovered while being a school counselor and studying all of this is that it’s not that we [Latinos] don’t want to, but we were taught that we are not capable, or that we can’t–and there is the error because Latinos CAN do it, they CAN do it, they only need support and help to achieve it

-Virginia Antunez

Virginia Antunez

Virginia is the eldest of five siblings and the first in her family to attend college. Her parents immigrated to the United States in hopes of providing them with a better future. Her fondest memories include her father, Adrian, talking about the benefits of an education. And even though he was not granted this opportunity, he instilled this belief onto his children. Today, Virginia is a graduate of Western Oregon University and most recently, Lewis and Clark College where she earned her master’s degree in Education. Virginia currently works as a school counselor in the state of Oregon and is a doctoral candidate at the University of Southern California.

Virginia Antunez

Virginia is the eldest of five siblings and the first in her family to attend college. Her parents immigrated to the United States in hopes of providing them with a better future. Her fondest memories include her father, Adrian, talking about the benefits of an education. And even though he was not granted this opportunity, he instilled this belief onto his children. Today, Virginia is a graduate of Western Oregon University and most recently, Lewis and Clark College where she earned her master’s degree in Education. Virginia currently works as a school counselor in the state of Oregon and is a doctoral candidate at the University of Southern California.

Antonio Antunez

Antonio has teamed up with Primera Generación to support the UnidosGeneración Scholarship. Antonio is also a first-generation college graduate in his family. He graduated from Western Oregon University where he majored in Economics. He made the decision to start his own business, Westland Home Construction, shortly after graduating back in 2017.

“I have never felt so much joy for what I am about to accomplish—not only for myself, but for my familia. I know that I am the first, but I will certainly not be the last, I can’t be! Because when one of us decides to do something new and challenging, we are really only opening up the path for others to follow. I hope that many more Latinos get inspired by our journeys because we need them, as a society we need them, we need their talents, their skills, their drive, their ideas, and their passion.”
-Virginia Antunez