The shifting conversation around citizenship | Julissa Arce | TEDxTexasTechUniversity

Julissa shares her story of living as an undocumented immigrant and how she was able to overcome challenges to obtain a college degree. She questions what it really takes to be an American.

Julissa Arce is the director of development at Define American, an organization that uses the “power of story to transcend politics and shift the conversation around citizenship.”

Arce built a successful career on Wall Street working at Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch and had seemingly achieved the American Dream of wealth and status, and yet she was not part of what defined American. Arce asked herself, what if she defined American – a woman from Mexico who (while undocumented) achieved career success. Her story has been featured in ELLE magazine.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx