Ciara joined Beyond following her graduation from NYU Law School, where she focused on immigration law and transnational solidarity and advocacy. While at NYU, Ciara participated in the Global Justice Clinic, which employs a legal empowerment-based approach to support primarily Global South-based movements and communities in their struggles against Global North institutions and corporations. The approach that Ciara practiced in working with local community organizers in the Dominican Republic and Haiti motivated her to join Beyond and continue to interact with impacted communities in a collaborative, non-hierarchical way.

Prior to law school, Ciara graduated from the University of Southern California with a degree in Middle East Studies and minors in Arabic and International Relations, before participating in the Center for Arabic Study Abroad fellowship in Cairo. Her experiences living abroad strengthened her commitment to practicing global solidarity even while engaged in local movements.