Lisa Sherman Luna is a nationally recognized immigrant rights leader and the first Latina to serve as Executive Director of the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC) and its affiliated 501(c)(4), TIRRC Votes. Under her leadership, TIRRC successfully navigated the COVID-19 pandemic, expanded its staff and organizational capacity, and established a permanent headquarters in Antioch, at the heart of Tennessee’s immigrant and refugee community.

Lisa has built a strong track record of defending immigrants and advancing systems change rooted in dignity and belonging. Her leadership has strengthened protections for immigrant and refugee communities, challenged harmful policies, and helped secure public investments that expand access to services and create communities where everyone can thrive.

A cornerstone of Lisa’s leadership has been the expansion of TIRRC’s legal capacity. She led the organization’s growth from providing limited individual representation to building a robust legal program that combines direct services with strategic litigation and statewide legal advocacy to defend the Constitutional rights of immigrants. 

Born to a Guatemalan mother and American father, Lisa spent much of her childhood in Guatemala before relocating to Nashville as a teenager. Her personal experience leaving her home due to violence has deeply shaped her lifelong commitment to building an immigration system rooted in dignity, safety, opportunity, and belonging.

Prior to joining TIRRC, Lisa worked in the international human rights field in New York, London, and Senegal, including advocacy at the United Nations and research on human rights violations in West Africa. She brings a global perspective to her work and continues to serve in national leadership roles advancing immigrant justice across the country serving as the co-chair of the National Partnership for New Americans (NPNA), board president of the National Immigration Law Center Immigrant Justice Fund (NILC IJF), and on the board of the Fair Immigration Reform Movement (FIRM).