Santiago Tijerina is a Community Navigator on our Citizenship and Civic Engagement Team, and he is eager to amplify the mission of the Greater Portland Immigrant Welcome Center by bringing his passion for civic engagement, service, and leadership to the team. Santiago is a recent honors graduate of the University of Maine, and he is also a current student at the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies at the Maine College of Art & Design.

Santiago’s parents are immigrants from Colombia, and he has learned to navigate within the international community from a very young age. Having been a core organizer for community building events, a language interpreter, a multicultural student ambassador, and a recipient of a study abroad fellowship, Santiago has demonstrated a strong sense of civic engagement, service, and leadership within the broader international community at the University of Maine.

Santiago hopes to replicate the same sense of commitment and dedication he has demonstrated in his previous experiences, while also utilizing his language skills in Spanish and French as a Community Navigator.