Yliana Johansen-Méndez is chief program officer at Immigrant Defenders Law Center, where she leads strategic initiatives and oversees the organization’s programmatic response efforts as immigration policies shift. Before joining us for “Will California’s Future Be Exceptional?”—the launch event of our series “CA175—What Connects California?”— Johansen-Méndez chatted with us in the green room about The Wild Robot, Montell Jordan, and why a cactus flower represents California.
If you could magically gain any skill or talent right now, what would it be?
To predict the future. I think there’s a lot of uncertainty right now and having a bit of a glimpse into what’s to come would be absolutely wonderful.
What’s the last book you loved?
Most of what I’ve been reading lately is children’s books. We have a very robust bedtime routine with my kids, so we read everything from Harry Potter to The Wild Robot to The Secret Zoo. For the kids’ books, I really loved The Wild Robot.
There are a lot of songs about California. Which one is your favorite?
I’m going to date myself here but definitely Montell Jordan’s [“This Is How We Do It”].
What is one hope you have for California’s future?
I hope California can stay true to our spirit. California is really unique and diverse, and we really embrace that. As we face challenges, [I hope we can] keep those values as a state.
What’s one thing you would put in a time capsule to explain California today?
This may seem silly, but a cactus flower. One, a cactus flower can be very beautiful. It’s also full of spines, the parts that maybe aren’t as pretty and can be a little harmful or hurtful.