--- description: Find out why ImmSchools co-founder Vanessa Luna made the 2019 TIME 100 Next list. title: Vanessa Luna Is on the 2019 TIME 100 Next List image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0faafed650a32ea2/698a057f929fad3181bf532a/vanessa-luna-time-100-next.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Nov 12, 2019 # Vanessa Luna by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close  Teach for America/Meron Menghistab Vanessa Luna was teaching in Los Angeles in 2014 when the deportation of a student’s parent gave her an up-close view of how immigration policy can impact a child’s education. Three years later, the educator and DACA recipient co-founded ImmSchools, a nonprofit that trains teachers to better support America’s millions of children with undocumented family members by creating more inclusive classroom environments. In ImmSchools’ first 12 months, 960 students and their families participated in its programs—which include know-your-rights workshops and college-admissions guidance—and Luna, who was named a 2019 Roddenberry Fellow, says the nonprofit will reach more than 1,000 educators this fiscal year. “It shouldn’t be luck that an undocumented student gets what they need in school,” she says. _—Jasmine Aguilera_ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/time-100-next-2019/5718837/vanessa-luna/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/time-100-next-2019/5718837/vanessa-luna/"},"headline":"Vanessa Luna","datePublished":"2019-11-12T22:09:35.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-02T23:33:54.745Z","description":"Find out why ImmSchools co-founder Vanessa Luna made the 2019 TIME 100 Next list.","url":"https://time.com/collections/time-100-next-2019/5718837/vanessa-luna/","keywords":["TIME100NEXT19"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0faafed650a32ea2/698a057f929fad3181bf532a/vanessa-luna-time-100-next.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0faafed650a32ea2/698a057f929fad3181bf532a/vanessa-luna-time-100-next.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/time-100-next-2019/5718837/vanessa-luna/","name":"Vanessa Luna"}}]}] ```