Yurina Gil was born on September 23, 1979, in Havana, Cuba, and raised in the neighborhood of Pogoloti, Marianao. Her parents were very young—her father was 24 and her mother not yet 19, and she was raised alongside her grandparents and two aunts.
Yurina attended Ciudad Escolar Libertad for elementary and middle school, where she stood out as bright, energetic, and outspoken. Though once described as “hyperkinetic,” she excelled academically. While studying at Manolito Aguiar, she made a defining choice: despite pressure and the risk of limiting her future opportunities, she refused to join the Unión de Jóvenes Comunistas, staying true to her values.
At age 18, Yurina immigrated to the United States without speaking English. She enrolled in Job Corps in Gainesville, Florida, where she learned English and developed administrative and computer skills. She later moved to Miami to continue her education at Miami Dade College. Although her father relocated to Orlando, Yurina remained in Miami, later moving briefly before returning to help support her mother after her arrival in the U.S.
Throughout this time, she worked multiple jobs including factory work, gas stations, medicine delivery, and bookkeeping. Her interest in accounting led her to pursue higher education, earning an associate degree at Miami-Dade College before transferring to Florida International University to complete her bachelor’s degree and to earn her master’s degree in accounting. Yurina’s professional journey took her to Boston and New York, where she worked with top firms like PwC and Ernst & Young. Then she returned to Miami and joined World Fuel Services as a corporate accountant. Today, she serves as a Client Relations Director for Accounting, supporting community associations across South Florida.
Yurina is running for Congress because she knows firsthand the cost of authoritarianism and is determined to protect democracy in the United States. She believes in restoring stability and accountability in Washington, expanding access to education from universities to skilled trades strengthening domestic and regional supply chains to reduce reliance on China, protecting the environment, and ensuring future generations have greater opportunity than the one she inherited.
