Silvia Alvarez, Worker’s Rights Coordinator for the Midwest Coalition for Human Rights, is a PhD candidate at the College of Education and Human Development at the University of Minnesota's Twin Cities Campus.  As part of her professional experience she has conducted research in the areas of health, education, food security, human rights, immigration utilizing case studies, ethnography, focus groups, surveys and base line studies. Silvia has worked at Jane Adams School for Democracy in Saint Paul Minnesota, interpreting and facilitating study groups with Hispanic Population; she has taught Spanish at the University of Minnesota, and has done research at  HACER (Hispanic, Advocacy, and Community Empower through Research).  She also worked as a research assistant for the University of Minnesota Humphrey Institute.

Silvia has participated in several educational and development programs, doing planning, research, and evaluation, as well as the design and verification of educational materials.  She has experience working with groups that are diverse in terms of language and culture.   Her research focuses on the experience of the immigrant community and their insertion into main stream US society. Silvia is interested in transnational communities, and the role of cultural, economical, and social networks in the migration processes.  Her research draws upon the strengths of anthropology and sociology.

Silvia is a recipient of the 2008 University of Minnesota Women of Color Tapestry Award because of her contribution to creating a thriving campus community.  She is originally from Guatemala, and got her undergraduate degree in Anthropology from San Carlos University.  She plans to complete her PhD in fall 2010.