Karely was born and raised in San Diego, particularly in the area of City Heights. Growing up she always knew she wanted to make a positive contribution to society. Coming from immigrant parents further incited this desire as she became passionate about social justice and the fight against systemic inequalities. This passion led her to join the Mid City CAN Youth Council and their Civic Engagement team. During her time at Youth Council, she worked on a juvenile justice initiative in which Youth Council created the “I Am Possible” mural. In addition, she lobbied locally, and in Sacramento on policies that surrounded the School to Prison Pipeline. Her work at Mid-City CAN further established her passion for social justice which led her to major in Political Science and Sociology at San Diego State University.

During her time as a student, Karely felt empowered by the issues she was learning about in her sociology classes and hopes to seek a career as a sociology professor. She hopes to ignite the same passion among others to want to make a positive change in our society. Karely also has a passion for art. In her free time, she enjoys making jewelry. Karely also enjoys running, spending time at the beach with a good book, and attending concerts. Karely cherishes City Heights dearly as it is the place that has shown her the vibrancy of what community is. She is excited to join the ITCH team as a base builder and help contribute to the prosperity of City Heights.