Daniel Silva-Alvarez was born and raised on the Southwest Side of Chicago in the community of Little Village. Growing up in a family deeply involved in grassroots organizing and local politics, he learned to work for social change as soon as he could walk and talk. Daniel spent four sun-filled years at the University of Miami, where he spent much of his time actively involved in the LGBTQ community. He is most proud of his time spent building coalitions with other organizations around shared issues of oppression, and in creating a statewide conference for LGBTQ college students. Daniel worked in various nonprofits doing educational youth work after college and is now with a youth leadership development and college access program.