The Walter H. Capps Center is pleased to co-sponsor the 2026 Luis Leal Award Ceremony for Distinction in Chicano/Latino Literature with Julissa Arce, bestselling author of My (Underground) American Dream: My True Story as an Undocumented Immigrant Who Became a Wall Street Executive (2016); Someone Like Me: How One Undocumented Girl Fought for Her American Dream (2018); and You Sound Like a White Girl: The Case for Rejecting Assimilation (2022). Arce is an author, producer, public speaker, and former Goldman Sachs vice president. She co-founded the Ascend Educational Fund, a college scholarship and mentorship program for immigrant students. The Luis Leal Award is presented by the Luis Leal Endowed Chair and the Department of Chicana and Chicano Studies.
