ABOUT

Dagmara was born in Quito, Ecuador, and moved  to Illinois at the age of 12 with her family and has called Will County her home ever since. She graduated from Bolingbrook High School in 2005 and is proud to have been a product of our public schools. Dagmara went on to earn her B.A. in Justice Studies and Political Science in 2010 and was working on her Master's in Urban Planning and Policy at the University of Illinois in Chicago when she decided to run for office in 2019.

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For over a decade, she has dedicated her life to advocating for working families particularly focusing on projects addressing the barriers of low-income, limited English proficient Illinois residents. A community organizer at heart, she got involved at a young age in civic engagement efforts to get out the vote of low-propensity voters in the southwest suburbs. In 2008 she was able to coordinate an effort to mobilize over 1,000 voters to the polls on election day alone! She has continued to do so in every presidential election and is proud to have been able to talk to community members about the importance of becoming civically engaged ever since. She has also advocated in efforts to increase the minimum wage and has been a fierce fighter in Springfield during the fight for a fair budget that puts working families first. 

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Prior to becoming the State Representative for the 85th District in 2021, she was the Director of Programs at the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights and worked directly with 59 community-based organizations across the state of Illinois to address barriers to citizenship as well as language access primarily for immigrants and refugees. Dagmara, herself proudly became a naturalized U.S. citizen in April 2016. 

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She currently resides in Bolingbrook, IL with her parents and sister, who she credits as the inspiration for her passion in advocacy for families and social justice. She loves to travel and her two poodles, Jerry and Bella.