Estefania Cerna 

Hometown: Cutler Bay, Florida  
School: Miami Palmetto Senior High School

Estefania is a second-generation immigrant with parents from San Salvador, El Salvador, and Quito, Ecuador. She proudly serves as the President and Founder of her Non-Profit organization Dancers Dressing Dancers which collects used dance wear from local schools and studios within the Miami dance community, then delivers them to struggling studios in developing countries. Within her school, she takes on roles such as Head of Special Events on the Student Council, Chief of Community Outreach for the Spanish National Honors Society, Senior Class Director for KEY Club International, and has a news segment in Spanish on the morning announcements. Driven by her passion for law and government, she has worked for the esteemed law offices of Kenneth M Kaplan, Esq. and participated in summer programs like the American Legion Auxiliary’s Girls State where her bill was one of 12 out of 350 that were passed. Estefania’s journey of growth and learning continued with the NextGen program, where she collaborated with CHCI’s marketing team to develop engaging content for social media which not only expanded her skillset but also deepened her knowledge in networking and community engagement. She would recommend this program to any young Hispanic student that has an interest in leadership, government, or civic advocacy.