Tony Soto
Anthony Ramón Pérez Soto (Tony)
Tony is a young activist from Puntarenas, Costa Rica. He descends from the Chorotega and Huetar indigenous groups in Costa Rica. Tony’s family is immersed in a matrilineal model which prompted him to question gender inequalities from a very early age given that his national context tends to favor men over women.
Tony is currently pursuing a Master’s Degree at DePaul University in Chicago in Applied Diplomacy with a concentration on Migration. He recently graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in Political Science and German from Luther College, Iowa.
Passionate about decolonizing academic and policy making structures, Tony got heavily involved in building a new academic curriculum for Luther College. Some of those efforts included mobilizing students, organizing public forums and petitioning directly to the reforming committee to include a variety of content focusing on black and brown and experiences and contributions, from Sciences and History, to Physical Education. During college, Tony led the International Student & Allies Association and Latines Unides, a student organization focusing on the authentic Latinx experience in the US and abroad. In those achievements, he sought to create a stronger sense of community while challenging the white structures of power in this context.
Tony was a Keynote speaker at the second Decorah Pride Parade in 2019 and has participated in a variety of panel conversations focusing on decolonization efforts, including an event for EarthHacks.io which featured youth leaders from Earth Guardians. Tony is fluent in Spanish, English, German and Italian. His enrichment by, and grasp of, language has been possible due to his interest in working with immigrant communities in Germany, Italy, the Dominican Republic, Postville (IA), Tucson and Nogales (AZ). His work in this field ranges from assisting nutrition departments to translation services for asylum and refugee applications.