Heidi Cerneka, a Maryknoll Lay Missioner and immigration attorney, has dedicated her life to advocacy and service. Currently, she works at Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center on the Mexico/US border, assisting migrants seeking protection. Heidi is also developing programs to train legal advocates and raise awareness about the connection between migration and human trafficking. Additionally, she collaborates with a project in São Paulo, Brazil, addressing migration and human trafficking for forced crime.  

For over 20 years, Heidi championed the rights of incarcerated women in Brazil, spending countless days in prisons listening to their stories. These firsthand accounts inspired her to fight for systemic reforms in criminal justice and human trafficking.  She focused on women coerced into drug crimes, pushing for judicial recognition of human trafficking in these cases. 

Before her work in Latin America, Heidi was a campus minister at Loyola University Chicago and she taught high school with the Jesuit International Volunteers.   Her expertise has led her to participate in UN human rights events, amplifying the voices of justice-involved women. She also serves on the advisory board of the IBVM/CJ UN NGO.  

Every day is a new adventure in learning and in managing the devastating effects of US and global policies affecting people on the move in our world.  Her guiding mantra in the face of these injustices: Cultivate Indignation!