Penny Pangburn Burillo was born in Hart, Michigan. For over four decades, she has served as an advocate for the Mexican American community of southwestern Michigan, particularly the migrant farm worker. She was exposed early on to Mexican culture, language and folkways. In her early twenties, Burillo worked as bilingual teacher's aide at the Garden Grove School District, a community southeast of Los Angeles. Upon her return to Michigan, her bilingual skills were useful to her advocacy for migrant farmworkers on local and state boards relating to housing, employment, education, and race discrimination. Burillo's Quinceañera Invitation collection dates from 1977-2011. She started accumulating them as mementos of the 15-year old birthday party celebrations for the young women in the Mexican American community she helped sponsor. Burillo's sponsorship was sometimes financial and other times religious. She also accumulated them as samples of invitations to design for her own daughters' Quinceañera celebrations. The Quinceañera is primarily a religious rite of passage ceremony fêting a young girl's passage into adulthood. A party sometimes follows ranging from an in-home celebration to a formal dinner-dance. As of 2011, Burillo is still active in the Latino and migrant community of southwestern Michigan.