Meet the Penn Heads

Diana Estefanía Estrada Álamo

Diana is a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences studying Biological Anthropology with a minor in Fine Arts. She was born in Leon, Guanajuato, Mexico and was raised in Seattle, Washington. On campus, her involvement outside of being a Co-Head Delegate for the LILC includes, standing for two years as the Co-chair of Queer People of Color, serving on Penn's Center for Hispanic Excellence: La Casa Latina's Advisory Board as the Chair of North Philadelphia Community Outreach, is a proud Sister of Lambda Theta Alpha Latin Sorority, Incorporated and is the Bold and Exquisite Beta Epsilon Chapter's Alumni Liaison & Historian Chair. Is a Co-Founder of the Food Empowerment Education and Sustainability Team in Seattle. Last but certainly not least, she is an active member of the Pennsylvania College Achievement Program, UPenn FACE AIDS chapter and the Undergraduate Anthropology Society.

She is very passionate about social justice and the study of infectious disease--in particular, retroviruses like Tuberculosis. The former of these two is what propelled Diana into running for the position of Penn's 2012 Co-Head Delegate. Her vision is to inspire people of color in the Ivy League to be more involved in global affairs and to become social advocates to their respective capacities. She is well aware that given her circumstances and the demographic she comes from as a low-income, woman of color she could have easily became a social statistic. But instead, she has the opportunity to be studying on a full-academic ride at one of the top institutions in the nation. To pay it forward, she strives to serve as a role model and resource for her peers and younger generations in their own struggle and success in this socially (un)just world.  

Top three Spanish songs: Bendita Tu Luz by Maná, Amor Prohibido by Selena, and Magdalenha by Sergio Mendes

Adán Aries Juárez Cordova

Adan is a junior in the College of Arts & Sciences majoring in Philosophy, Politics, and Economy with a concentration in Public Policy and Governance and a minor in Linguistics. He is from Orange County, California growing up just two streets over from Disneyland. At Penn, Adan has devoted himself to expanding the influence of the Latino Community. He works hard as the Social Media Chair for MEChA de Penn, the Layout Editor of La Vida Magazine (Penn's only Latino Publicaiton), and Chair of the La Casa Latina: Center for Hispanic Excellence Advisory Board. His love for politics has driven him to be Penn Political Review Magazine's Feature Designer as well as work as a Congressional Intern for a Latina Congresswoman. His work transcends beyond Penn's campus into West Philadelphia in the form of mentoring. He tutors a 3rd grader in reading and mathematics as part of the West Philadelphia Tutoring Project and teaches Spanish to a class of 2nd graders.

It is his passion to mold minds and empower others that has driven Adan to assume the position as the Co-Head Penn Delegate. He hopes that delegates walk away from the conference with a new sense of responsibility to lead a social change campaign. While the delegates should be proud of all their accomplishments thus far, it is by no means any reason to sit back and relax. Adan hopes sharing each other's experience will compel all to fight for more resources on their respective campuses especially in the admissions realm so that others can also benefit from an Ivy League education.  

Top three Spanish songs: Su Veneno by Aventura,  Devuelveme a Mi Chica by Los Hombre G, and El Afortunado by Los Titanes de Durango     



Fabriana Larancuent

Fabriana Larancuent is a Junior at the University of Pennsylvania majoring in Communication and minoring in French. She was born and raised in New York City in a predominantly Dominican neighborhood. Aside from being a CoHead Delegate for the 2012 Latino Ivy League Conference, Fabi is the president of Lambda Theta Alpha Latin Sorority, Incorporated Beta Epsilon Chapter, the Vice Chair of Programming for the Multicultural Greek Council, CoChair for the Calabash Committee -- a banquet that brings together groups of Caribbean and African diaspora, a member of CityStep -- a community service organization that teaches hip hop dance to middle schoolers in West Philadelphia, and last, but definitely not least she is the Latino Coalition Liaison for Grupo Quisqueyano, the Dominican Student Association at Penn. 

If Fabi is not running to a meeting, you can find her at La Casa hanging out with other students or working in the library. Her favorite activities include instagramming, tweeting, facebooking (basically any type of social media), shopping, and talking with her friends. She hopes to work in the marketing field after she graduates from college, but her dream is to travel around the world before the age of 50. 

Top three spanish songs: Es Un Secreto by Plan B, El Farolito by Juan Luis Guerra, and Por Un Segundo by Aventura.