Denisce Palacios

2024-2025 Obama Foundation USA Leader

Headshot of Denisce Palacios, 2024-2025 Obama Foundation USA Leader

Community Organizer in Rio Grande Valley, Texas

Brownsville, Texas

Denisce Palacios is a community organizer in the Rio Grande Valley, where she is dedicated to empowering young people and mobilizing community members to take an active role in the legislative process. In 2022, Denisce and her community successfully organized to stop the execution of Rio Grande Valley native Melissa Lucio, who was wrongfully imprisoned. Denisce also led efforts at the beginning of the pandemic to educate the community on COVID-19 by writing an op-ed in the Rio Grande Guardian and organizing a team that called and texted more than 27,000 people to do wellness checks and share life-saving prevention information in English and Spanish. While early in her career, Denisce has already made a significant impact on her community in the Rio Grande Valley.

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For emerging leaders who have demonstrated a commitment to advancing the common good.

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