Arista joined CLINIC as a Project Attorney in March 2011. She previously worked at Morrison Child and Family Services in Portland, Oregon, where she managed the cases of detained unaccompanied children and assisted them with family reunification. During her free time she volunteered at Catholic Charities where she helped immigrant victims of domestic violence and sexual assault. 

After earning a bachelor’s degree in international studies at the University of Oregon in 2002, Arista spent a year living and traveling in Costa Rica and Panama. There, she worked as a reporter focusing on Central American politics for the journal Mesoamerica. While in San Jose she taught English to business executives and volunteered at a women’s shelter.

After those experiences, Arista returned to Oregon where she attended Lewis and Clark Law School. While there, she was awarded a public interest law project grant to work at the Office of the Public Defender in Alexandria, Virginia. Arista is originally from Lima, Peru, and speaks Spanish fluently.