User:DaisyVT/sandbox/Paola mendoza

Paola Mendoza is a film director, activist, author, artist, and co-founder/Artistic Director of the 2017 Women’s March.

Early Life
Mendoza was born and raised in Bogotá, Columbia. She came to the United States as an infant with her mother and brother. Their family struggled and were homeless for a short period until her mother obtained a job at a fast food restaurant. At the age of twelve Mendoza was involved with a gang. Her mother sent her back to Columbia for a few years to live with an aunt to take her out of the gang situation. Mendoza returned to Los Angeles for her senior year of high school. After attending community college for three years, she graduated from UCLA and earned her master's degree at Sarah Lawrence College.

Film
Mendoza starred in the movie, "On the Outs" in 2003, which won the Jury Awards at the Deauville Film Festival. Mendoza wrote and directed the film, Entre nos, which was in part based on her mother's life. The film was shown in multiple film festivals including the Tribeca Film Festival.

2017 Women's March
Mendoza was a co-founder of the 2017 Women's March, and served as its Artistic Director.

Artist/Creative Director
Creative director for exhibition, "I Am a Child,"in 2018 at the National Civil Rights Museum, Memphis, TN, a collection of photographs highlighting the separation of undocumented immigrant children from their parents at the border.

Founding member of The Meteor, “a platform to amplify the creative work of BIPOC women, LGBTQ+ people.”

Author
She co-authored with Sarah Sophie Flicker, Together We Rise: Behind the Scenes at the Protest Heard Around the World. Mendoza wrote the young adult novel, Sanctuary, which was on the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) Best Fiction for 2020 List.

Founded the Resistance Revival Chorus with Sarah Sophia Flicker and Ginny Suss. The Resistance Revival Chorus sang backup for Kesha during the 2018 Grammys.

Personal Life
Mendoza has a son with partner, Michael Skolnik.