Dianne Garcia began her career running a day camp for homeless children and teaching in marginalized communities. She then ran a gardening business before serving as an Associate Pastor at a Mennonite church for three years. She planted and continues to lead Iglesia Cristiana Roca de Refugio in April of 2023 with a group of women who felt called to create a community of belonging and belovedness in the family of God for other immigrants.

 

The church founded the ministry organization, Nuevos Vecinos, in February of 2024 also led by Dianne, to create community together with immigrant families. Nuevos Vecinos supports families in crisis into stability so that they can become active participants again in their community. Dianne believes fundamentally in our Christian call to hospitality for all and that part of that hospitality requires us to be co-creators in the transformation of our world, adopting an attitude of humility, learning, and empowerment of others, particularly those who have been oppressed.

 

Dianne earned her bachelor's in chemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and her master's in education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She has trained as a mental health counselor at Our Lady of the Lake University and taken courses at Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary. She will be awarded the Rothko Chapel Oscar Romero Award for human rights advocacy in 2026. Dianne is a second-generation immigrant and also has understood the immigrant experience through many other journeys in her life to new lands. She feels unbelievably blessed by the support of her family and the trust placed in her to be the shepherd of such an incredible community of people, especially now, as we are all journeying through such a dense and difficult time.