Kirsten Lindbloom is a justice driven person.

Her passion for human rights largely stems from her own personal experience as an immigrant.

Lindbloom was born in Canada, but made her way down to the states during college. As a student, she was able to take on internships and work study programs — experiences that led her to pursue post-College positions in Minnesota.

Her first working experience out of college was with a touring theater group that regularly presented issues on social justice. She also worked in Austin with the parenting research center as a program manager and grant writer under a working visa.

Lindbloom knows what it’s like to go through the immigration process, and she understands the price tag that comes along with it.

That’s one of the reasons behind her passion to educate Austin on immigration and how to live in a society made up of people from different backgrounds.

For the past three years, Lindbloom has thrown her passion behind Austin’s Human Rights Commission. The commission’s focus is on educating and providing avenues for people with opinions on issues relating to human rights, including immigration. It uses the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as its guidelines.

“The city of Austin is a growing, changing community,” she said.

Lindbloom’s justice-driven passion for human rights also spills over into her involvement with Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender organizations, such as the college’s Gay Straight Alliance and Stage Left, a community organization that uses music and theater to present LGBT issues. Her involvement with Stage Left has taken her to colleges, churches and conferences throughout the region. The group was even recently given an award from Minnesota System of Colleges and Universities for its work on diversity.

Lindbloom said her involvement in all things human rights related stems from a belief that the similarities people share are more important than the differences that too often divide.