2009-2010 Executive Board
Alejandra Ceja
President
1996-1997 Fellow
Alejandra Ceja is a senior budget and appropriations analyst for the Majority Staff with the House Education and Labor Committee. A native of the Los Angeles, she holds an undergraduate degree in political science from Mount St. Mary's College in Los Angeles, and a master's degree in public administration from Baruch College, City University of New York. Ceja is a graduate of the CHCI Fellows Class of 1996-1997 and cofounder of the AA.
Luis Campillo
Vice President
2002 Intern, 2003 Scholar, 2004-2005 Fellow
Luis Campillo works as an Associate for Mickey Ibarra & Associates (MI&A). MI&A is a leading Washington, DC government relations and public affairs firm that provides consulting services to corporate, non-profit, and government clients. His responsibilities include strategy development, issue advocacy and outreach to corporations, national organizations, Members of Congress, Federal agencies, state and local officials and community organizations.
Prior to working at MI&A, Luis worked for two and half years as a Legislative Correspondent in the Office of Senator Jack Reed, covering Social Security, senior, housing, and health care related issues. Luis also served as Senator Reed's liaison to the Senate Democratic Hispanic Taskforce, which mission is "to increase communication between Hispanic leaders and Democratic Senators and to help ensure that the issues of greatest importance to the Hispanic community are addressed in Congress." Luis was a Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute (CHCI) Public Policy Fellow and worked at the National Immigration Law Center (NILC) on labor and education issues. During his tenure at NILC, Luis worked with the Low-Wage Immigrant Worker (LWIW) Coalition and on the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act. In addition, Luis was a CHCI Intern the summer of 2002 and a CHCI Scholar in 2003.
Luis graduated from Brown University in 2004 with a B.A. in Political Science. He serves on the Board of Governors for the Brown Alumni Association, and is actively involved with the Brown University Latino Alumni Council (BULAC). Luis was born in Armenia, Quindío (Colombia) and at an early aged migrated with his mother to the United States, taking up residence in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.
Adriana C. Lopez
Secretary
2004-2005 Fellow
Adriana C. Lopez is a native of Fort Wayne, Indiana. She graduated from Stanford University with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science in 2004. Following graduation Ms. Lopez was selected to participate in the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute Fellowship program in Washington, D.C. where she did a full-year placement with the Native American Rights Fund. Adriana has been working in the non-profit field for eight years with organizations involved in education and service-delivery that often focused on communities of color, youth and business/entrepreneurship. This experience has allowed her to develop skills in everything from program development and management to fundraising. She is excited to be the new Director for the Leadership Alexandria program, a program of the Alexandria Chamber of Commerce, and looks forward to continuing to build upon its success. Adriana is also the Owner of a direct sales jewelry company (www.myparklane.com/alopez) and additionally works as a Consultant on issues of diversity, the Latino community and business/entrepreneurship.
Mildred Otero
Treasurer
2003-2004 Fellow
Mildred began her career as a legislative aide to New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, where she served in both his Albany and New York City offices. In 1998, she went on to work for the Kings County District Attorney's Office as a victim advocate and later as a counselor, acting as a resource of support for victims of violent crimes and their families, specifically children ten and under who were victims of sexual and physical abuse. In 2003, Ms. Otero was one of twenty Latinos nationwide chosen to participate in the prestigious Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute (CHCI) Public Policy Fellowship in Washington, DC, where she worked for Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY). Upon completion of the CHCI fellowship, she joined The Children's Defense Fund as the Deputy Director of their Early Childhood Development Division. Ms. Otero went on to work for Senator Jack Reed (D-RI), before rejoining the office of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton in early 2006 as her Legislative Assistant on education and children's issues. Currently, Ms. Otero serves as Senator Clinton's Senior Education and Child Welfare Policy Advisor.
Ms. Otero earned a bachelor's degree from the State University of New York at Albany and a master's degree in social work from New York University, School of Social Work.
Katherine Martinez
Programs Coordinator
2006-2007 Fellow
Katherine ‘Katy' Martinez is originally from Cleveland, Ohio and is a 2005 graduate of the College of Wooster, in Wooster, Ohio. Her time in Ohio was split studying Political Science with a focus in International Relations and working as a board member of her local community development center. As a founding member of her community development center, she established several programs for youth and adults that are still going strong today. One program Katy is especially proud of is a financial literacy course that teaches participants how to live debt free. In 2006-2007, Katy joined the CHCI Public Policy Fellowship program. She successfully completed placements at the National Defense University's Institute for National Strategic Studies-Western Hemisphere Division and at the Department of Defense in the Office of the Secretary of Defense-Western Hemisphere Affairs where she is currently still employed as the Deputy Chief of Staff for the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Western Hemisphere Affairs.
