Everyone has a story of a rebellious teen. How many do you know rebelled against her parents by volunteering in their community?

City Heights resident, Kimberlyn Lopez says her family wanted her to surround herself with affluent people and eventually settle down with a successful husband. Instead, Kimberlyn, who grew up in Mexicali, Mexico, chose to spend her energy helping those less fortunate.

At age 26, Lopez is the youngest Board Member ever elected to Es Por Los Niños, an organization offering psychosocial support and educational programs to children living with HIV/AIDS in Tijuana. She first learned of Es Por Los Niños during an internship with the Travis Manion Foundation working on portraits of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). She met local fundraiser, gallery owner, and art curator Andy Gonzalez, who introduced her to Rosalva Patten, the founder of Es Por Los Niños whose son had a transfusion of infected blood that resulted in him contracting HIV. Feeling alone, Patten founded the organization in 2008 with a mission to enhance the quality of life in women, adolescents and children infected by HIV/AIDS and their families back. Today the organization serves more than 100 families.

Lopez also served as a CPR/EMT-certified volunteer and provided on-call disaster relief for the Red Cross; served as a medical technician in the Air Force; taught neighborhood health in her local Girl Scouts troop; and is currently studying health care management with Southern Illinois University in a special program for military personnel. Lopez has been a Medical Assistant at Planned Parenthood for five years.

Lopez’s other future goals include working with Planned Parenthood in an outreach management role; founding her own nonprofit working with children affected by poverty and HIV/AIDS; and working with other organizations like WHO, NIH, and UNICEF to close health disparities.