HERMINIA RINCON

When Cosmopolitan for Latinas magazine told well-known Dream Act activist Erika Andiola they chose her for a “Fun Fearless Award,” she said she was confused because she considers the magazine very mainstream.

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But that soon changed into feeling honored.

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“They are a big magazine that has a lot of readers,” Andiola said. “You don’t hear of anything political being covered. It felt good. It was good to have a ‘dreamer’ in the magazine.”

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Magazine editors chose 11 women and one man to receive the award based on the impact they made to their field over the past year.

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The group includes actress Michelle Rodriguez, who tops the list and is on the cover of the 2013 summer issue, as well as “Today” show co-anchor Natalie Morales.

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Andiola, 25, of Mesa, was named “The Reformer” by the magazine, which described her life as an undocumented woman and the YouTube video that gained her notoriety.

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Andiola also is a founder of the Phoenix-based Arizona Dream Act Coalition, a group that advocates for federal legislation allowing young undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children to legalize their status.

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She came to the U.S. from Durango, Mexico at age 9 and earned a psychology degree at Arizona State University.

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The video shows Andiola distraught after immigration officers arrived at her home and detained her mother and older brother.

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Andiola said she and a friend decided to make the video.

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“Social media is the biggest tool we have, and I had experience organizing online,” she said. “The YouTube video was done 30 minutes after my mom had been taken. I was trying to figure out how to deal with it.”

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In the video, she begged viewers to do something to stop the separation of families and pleaded for the release of her mother and brother.

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The video has received more than 79,000 views on YouTube.

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She didn’t realize the impact the video would have, but Cosmopolitan for Latinas noticed.

“That’s not something you see every day and hopefully this can be something someone can see and feel empowered and say, ‘I can do that,’ ” Andiola said.

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Cosmopolitan for Latina targets the Latina consumer, and Andiola said her award might inspire others.

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“They will look at this story and say, ‘OK, I can do something,’ ” Andiola said. “As Latinos, we want to look up to other Latinos or Latinas.”

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Being an activist is not something Andiola said she wanted to do, but she doesn’t regret it.

“My dream has always been to help people and people that just need a hand,” she said.

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Andiola works for Arizona Congresswoman Kyrsten Sinema as an outreach director focusing mainly on immigration, but she also reaches out to the community and serves as a liaison between Sinema and various groups in Arizona. She also helps dreamers apply for the Deferred Action Plan.

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Sinema represents Congressional District 9, which includes Tempe and parts of Phoenix, Scottsdale, Paradise Valley, Mesa and Chandler.

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“Recognizing your own power is very important,” Andiola said. “I’m not talking about political power, but real power. We need to have a lot of courage to keep going after the challenge. We need to dream and focus.”

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Includes information from Republic archives.