Alan Rojas-Rodriguez  

CHCI Public Policy Fellow

Presented by Meta 

Hometown: Winston-Salem, North Carolina 

School: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 

Degree: B.A in Political Science 

Placement: Office of Rep. Teresa Leger-Fernandez 

Alan Rojas-Rodriguez (he/him) was born and raised in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and is the proud son of Mexican and Salvadoran immigrant parents. As he grew up, he realized the immense inequities that exist across communities like his own, shaped by immigration status, language barriers, racial identity, and access to quality education. As an Afro-Latinx and first-generation college student, Alan often navigated feelings of cultural isolation and exclusion, both within predominantly white institutions and, at times, within his own community. These experiences sparked a deep desire to find belonging and purpose. 

Alan earned a B.A. in Political Science and Peace, War, and Defense, with a minor in Data Science, from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. During his time at UNC, he experienced the transformative power of inclusive community-building, particularly through his involvement in Mi Pueblo, UNC’s largest Latinx student organization, which showed him that structural change begins with empowered communities. His academic journey was defined by hands-on research and community engagement. As a Ronald E. McNair Scholar, he conducted a quantitative analysis on the NC Promise program and its impact on Hispanic and undocumented student enrollment and time-to-completion. Through the John M. Belk Impact Fellowship, he supported LatinxEd’s efforts to improve undocumented student access to higher education in North Carolina. Most recently, as a Southern Education Leadership Initiative Fellow placed with the Georgia Budget & Policy Institute, Alan aided with conducting statewide interviews with Georgia public school finance leaders to inform a report on K–12 public school funding. On campus, he served as Co-President of Mi Pueblo and held leadership within the Alpha Iota Chapter of La Unidad Latina, Lambda Upsilon Lambda Fraternity, Inc., leading initiatives that foster belonging and service within the Latinx student community. 

As a CHCI Public Policy Fellow, Alan hopes to gain hands-on experience in the policymaking process and deepen his understanding of how policy can be used to drive systemic change. His long-term goal is to become an education policy researcher and mentor who creates pathways for future Latinx leaders and helps reimagine systems to be more just and inclusive.