In My Third Act: Elvira Diaz on What It Really Means to Be American

In this edition of In My Third Act, Elvira Diaz talks about her lifelong commitment to welcoming immigrants, helping new Americans earn citizenship, and building bridges across cultures to strengthen democracy.

The central passion in Elvira Diaz’ life is welcoming immigrants into America and helping them become U.S. citizens. She herself is an immigrant from Mexico, one of seven children born to Aura María Ibarra de la Selva, who emigrated to Mexico from Nicaragua, and the great-niece of renowned Nicaraguan poet and activist Don Salomón de la Selva. (In fact, her Nicaraguan grandmother was also a poet, but in a time and culture that did not recognize such gifts in women.)

“When I learned about my grandmother and uncle, I said, ‘Ah, now I see why I am the way I am. Why I’m so crazy!’”

She has worked for years helping immigrants and recently turned her avocation into a non-profit she calls La Casa Elvira. She tutors those studying for the written citizenship test. One of her tricks is to organize the random questions into themes to make them easier to learn. There are questions about the Constitution (“most of my students are Catholic, so I compare it to the bible, something they know well”), U.S. Government structures, U.S. history, ten key historical figures (“Four of them are on the one dollar bill, two dollar bill, five dollar bill, so I tell them, ‘Take out the money, keep it with you, and learn the names!’”), their own elected leaders, why the flag has 50 stars… “People learn in different ways, so depending on how they learn, that’s how I teach.” Her goal is to help 100 people earn citizenship. At 44, she’s almost halfway there.

Most of her students are over 60, “And of course, when they finish, guess what, I invite them to join Third Act!” She is only half joking. She sees how Third Act can teach people how to become active and engaged citizens, to vote, but beyond that, to have a real voice to express what is important to them. She is also working to find ways to make Third Act Nevada more diverse, so many different voices can help shape our democracy. 

And she mobilizes Third Act in support of immigrants. Her priest began holding “Know Your Rights” trainings, which attracts hundreds of participants, and Elvira organizes Third Act volunteers to hold vigils in the parking lot to reassure those inside that they are safe. She told the pastor, “We have to protect people from detention, and you are not by yourself. I have a group of Third Actors who will have your back in case something happens.”

“This is an opportunity to get the community working together,” she adds.

Third Act Nevada recently organized a booth during a festival celebrating Dia de los Muertos, where they focused on honoring those who have died in ICE detention and deportation. They made a card, or calaverita, for each of 16 people they identified, with the date they had died under a scull on one side, and “Immigrants make America Gr8!” on the other. Another one of the many ways she serves as a bridge between the Latino and Anglo communities, helping unite their common humanity.

It was Elvira’s son, Cristian, who taught her to appreciate the importance of climate activism. “I remember one day I was making calls, about the Dream Act, I think, and my son came in and he told me, ‘Mom, if we don’t support the planet, we are not going to have a planet to support immigrants!” And because her son is transgender, she is also passionate about defending the rights of the LGBTQ community. On top of all that, she is the proud grandmother to her daughter Shirley’s one-year-old son, a miracle IVF baby, and the daughter she is carrying now. Thanks to science, the two are almost biological twins.

In every way, she puts into practice her guiding principle: “Don’t tell people, just do it.”

You might never guess that she spent much of her second act as a chemist. Her first job was with Nabisco Formosa in Mexico City, where she dreamed of inventing a healthy cookie for children instead of the junk food so many were consuming. Unfortunately, she never got there for lack of support. She left to accompany her mother to the U.S. to say goodbye to her grandfather who was dying of cancer. As his last few weeks turned into two years, Elvira took advantage of the time to learn English, and then landed a job in immunovirology, where she worked on developing ELISA tests for diagnosing viruses (thank you, COVID-19, for teaching all of us about ELISA tests) as well as autoimmune diseases. 

A move from California to Carson City, Nevada catalyzed a change of careers to one seemingly more aligned with her gregarious personality: she bought a bakery and coffee shop. Soon she got to know everyone in her neighborhood, and then to organize them. The pastor of one of the Catholic churches was deeply racist, so she began collecting signatures, eventually enough to compel him to resign. When the new pastor was hired, she organized hundreds of parishioners to convince him to hold mass in the Spanish language. When COVID put her bakery out of business she moved to Reno, where she lives today, and attends a large and vibrant church that also works to support and protect immigrants. 

In every way, she puts into practice her guiding principle: “Don’t tell people, just do it.”

She feels energized working with Third Actors who bring wisdom and experience who are ready to act together for change. As a teacher, she also believes in lifelong learning, including learning from youth. “We need to be open and learning from each other. When you expand yourself and learn in new ways, it’s good for you too!”

Jennifer Nielsen

Jennifer Nielsen is a member of the Third Act NJ Coordinating and Communications Committees. Her career in the prevention and treatment of malnutrition among the world’s most vulnerable mothers and children was unceremoniously ended with the DOGE-led  dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development, but she’s grateful now to be devoting her passions full time to climate and democracy activism.