Oscar Cardoza

Oscar Cardoza is a student leader born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky passionate about language accessibility, civic engagement, and creating opportunities for underserved communities. As the founder of the Louisville Language Access Project (LLAP), he strives to mitigate language barriers that can prevent immigrant and multilingual families from receiving adequate access to essential services and information. Through this initiative, he has developed skills in advocacy, community reach, and problem solving—even if it means translating systems that are far more challenging than translating languages.

Oscar has also strengthened his leadership and public speaking skills through competitive debate at the national level, where he has tackled issues ranging from economic development to international relations. He applied to CHCI NextGen in hopes of connecting with key Latino congressional leaders alongside fellow students to receive the essential tools to achieve a lasting impact. He hopes to serve his community by building off the experiences CHCI will instill for him so that language accessibility is no longer a dream, but a right to all.