Brandom Hernandez Ruiz

CHCI Public Policy Fellow Presented by BP

Hometown: Reading, Pennsylvania School: Albright College

Degree: B.A. in Political Science and International Relations

Placement: House Committee on Education & the Workforce

Brandom Hernandez Ruiz (he/him) is the proud son of two Puerto Rican parents who migrated to the mainland United States in search of better opportunities shortly after his birth in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico. Growing up in Reading, Pennsylvania, a city home to a majority-Latinx population, he experienced firsthand how housing insecurity, educational inequity, and immigration affected his community and peers. This exposure, along with the support of his parents, motivated Brandom to pursue higher education as a first-generation college student to become an advocate for marginalized communities.

Brandom graduated from Albright College in Reading, Pennsylvania, with the highest distinction, earning a B.A. in Political Science and International Relations with minors in Spanish and Legal Studies. During his education, he became involved in his community’s inaugural Youth Commission, serving as its Vice-Chair and Chair. In these roles, he immersed himself in local government, policy, and advocacy for the youth as he worked to empower the younger generation to become civically engaged and effect change in the community. After college, he spent the summer at the New York University School of Law with the TRIALS program. His interests in foreign relations and education led to a transition to Spain, where he worked as an English Teaching Assistant for a year with the Fulbright Program. Aside from his work in the classroom, he also volunteered with the EducationUSA program to help Spanish high-school students apply to colleges in the United States and founded a pre-law group within the Fulbright Spain cohort called ‘Fulbrighters in Law’. Brandom plans to leverage these diverse experiences in his future pursuit of a law degree.

As a CHCI Public Policy Fellow, Brandom hopes to gain comprehensive knowledge of the ways that policy at the federal level affects the Latinx population and people of color in addition to how he can better serve those communities.