Hi! My name is Daisy Almonte and I am proud to be a member of the Baldwin class of 2020. I look forward to engaging in thought-provoking discussions and learning from all of the other inspiring women that I am lucky to call my fellow scholars!
I was born in Anaheim, California, but moved around a lot throughout the early years of my childhood. I lived in Guerrero, Mexico; Portland, Oregon; and Riverside, California before finally settling in eastern North Carolina when I was nine years old.
Settling in a rural community influenced the way I came to view agriculture, for when I think of agriculture I think not only about farmers, tractors, fields, and crops, but about the farmworkers that harvest those crops and the work that needs to be done to obtain a just agricultural system. I became a member of Student Action with Farmworkers’ youth leadership program in high school, and upon starting my first year of college I interned at their main office as communications arts intern. Now, I am a member of their board of directors.
Attending various school districts early on in my schooling provided me with insight on educational discrepancies, as did attending an under resourced high school. As Community Interactions Chair for Duke’s undergraduate umbrella Latinx student organization, Mi Gente, and Senator of Equity and Outreach for Duke Student Government, I have designed programs that aim to empower high school students from underrepresented populations with tools to navigate the college and scholarship application process.
I am interested in public policy and sociology. Through my participation in the Duke Immerse: Human Rights and Identities program, I formulated, researched and prepared a project that examined the family-level impact of federal and local policies dictating state-issued driver’s licenses requirements on undocumented immigrant women. This has confirmed my interest not only in the drafting aspect of policy but also in its localization and implementation.
In addition to Mi Gente and Duke Student Government, I am a sister of Lambda Theta Alpha. I love reading (favorite authors include Junot Diaz, Toni Morrison, and Margaret Atwood) and writing, green tea, legal pads, movies, dry shampoo, and long drives.
Feel free to reach me at daisy.almonte@duke.edu !