About Erica Fernandez Zamora
From Farmworker Roots to Global Leadership
Erica Fernandez Zamora’s journey spans from the cornfields of Michoacán, Mexico, to global stages, leading campaigns that have shaped communities across California, the United States, and Mexico.
-Michoacán, Mexico
A childhood in the fields
The daughter of farmworkers, Erica was born in a small town in Michoacán, Mexico, the fifth of six children. From the age of five, she worked alongside her siblings in the fields — planting corn and lentils, picking strawberries — while attending school in the afternoons.
-Oxnard, California — Age 10
Arriving in
a new country
At ten years old, Erica immigrated with her family to Oxnard, California, and experienced firsthand the challenges faced by immigrant and working-class families. Her parents continued working in the fields — beside a power plant and a toxic superfund site less than half a mile from her community.
At twelve, Erica was diagnosed with asthma caused by air pollution — the moment she first understood that the health of people and the health of the environment are inseparable.
-Age 16
Taking on a multi-billion dollar corporation
When BHP Billiton proposed building a liquefied natural gas facility off the coast of her community, Erica joined the Central Coast Alliance United for a Sustainable Economy (CAUSE), Sierra Club, and Latinos No on LNG, training as a community organizer.
The company had first pitched the project to wealthier communities nearby, and after being turned away, rerouted the pipeline to avoid them, leaving the low-income community of Oxnard to bear the pollution alone.
Erica played a pivotal leadership role in a four-year grassroots campaign opposing a proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility along California’s coast. She organized more than 3,000 community members, including over 250 students from her own high school, bringing together youth, families, and community advocates to demand environmental justice and greater accountability in coastal development decisions.
Her organizing and advocacy helped secure landmark victories, including a governor’s veto and the passage of SB 412, legislation strengthening communities’ voices in decisions affecting their environment and future. Her work demonstrated the power of youth leadership and collective action to influence public policy and create lasting change.
-High school
Excelling on every front
While leading the fight against BHP Billiton, Erica excelled academically, graduating fourth in a class of more than 500 students with a 4.4 GPA. She competed in varsity cross country and track, worked after school, and actively participated in Academic Decathlon, Mock Trial, and Migrant Speech and Debate, beginning in junior high school.
At the same time, she remained deeply committed to giving back to her community through service, advocacy, and youth leadership—all while continuing to strengthen her English-language skills and balance the demands of school, work, and community organizing.
-Stanford University
Turning activism into education
Erica went on to earn both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree from Stanford University. She served as a John Gardner Fellow with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, and was recognized with multiple Stanford academic and community leadership awards.
-Nearly two decades of advocacy
Building a career across sectors
Erica’s professional path has taken her through the Agricultural Labor Relations Board, SEIU, Community Water Center, Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability, Fuerzas Unidas, and the Solidarity Center in Mexico — work spanning labor rights, environmental justice, and civic engagement across California, the United States, and Mexico.
-Today
Speaker, consultant, entrepreneur.
Today, Erica combines her experience in advocacy, leadership development, nonprofit consulting, public policy, financial education, and entrepreneurship to help organizations strengthen their impact and empower the communities they serve.
An avid traveler who has visited more than 20 countries, she brings a global perspective to her work while remaining deeply connected to her roots in California’s farmworker communities.
“My mom carried me in a rebozo as a baby. Now I wear one when I speak, to remember that women are powerful — at home and in society.”
— Erica Fernandez Zamora, The MY HERO Project
Erica Fernandez Zamora
Bring Erica’s story to your event
As a speaker and consultant, Erica turns her own journey into a message that audiences and organizations carry with them long after.