Johanna Vega Contreras is a Staff Attorney at Kids in Need of Defense in San Francisco. Born in Michoacán, México, Johanna immigrated to the United States with her parents at a young age and empathizes with aspects of her clients’ journeys due to her lived experience as an immigrant in America.  Johanna is passionate about immigration law and supporting her clients in a trauma-informed and holistic way throughout their immigration case. Johanna obtained her Juris Doctorate degree form the University of San Francisco School of Law where she gained vast clinical experience in both criminal and immigration law. After graduating from law school, Johanna returned to her alma matter to work at the USF Immigration and Deportation Defense Clinic where she supported both youth and adults in removal proceedings and affirmative immigration applications across multiple venues. Johanna then joined KIND’s San Francisco team where among her many projects, she has worked to expand KIND’s reach to Marin County through a unique program that pairs clients with both an immigration attorney and a social services coordinator. Through this program, Johanna has been able to develop best practices for legal and social services collaboration that she has been able to share with her office and beyond to best support immigrant youth.