Bryan Lopez  

Congressional Intern, Presented by Coca-Cola Foundation  

Hometown: Louisville, Kentucky  

School: University of Louisville  

Major: Criminal Justice  

Placement: Office of Rep. Morgan McGarvey   

Bryan is a first-generation Cuban American born in Louisville, Kentucky. Raised by parents who immigrated from Cuba, he is a trailblazer as the first in his family to attend college. He attends the University of Louisville, majoring in Criminal Justice and minoring in Spanish. 

On campus, Bryan serves as a Diversity Student Ambassador for Admissions, offering tours of the University of Louisville; he is proud to be a part of the only Kentucky university to provide Spanish-speaking tours. Bryan is also the President and Founder of two campus organizations: the Black and Brown Pre-Law Society, which empowers minority students pursuing law school as Kentucky’s first pre-law society focused on students of color, and the Cuban Student Association, which supports Cuban students at the University of Louisville and enhances the broader Latinx community in his city. 

Off campus, Bryan was selected for the 2023 cohort of the Stanford Law Scholars Institute (SLSI). During the program, Bryan engaged with SLS alumni, professors, and faculty about the American legal system, law school curricula, and policy-making processes. Bryan was also selected for the inaugural cohort of the Harvard Law School Zero-L program (HLS). Through this program, Bryan learned legal concepts and vocabulary, case reading techniques, and skills in case briefing from HLS professors and faculty. 

Bryan aims to build meaningful relationships with fellow interns, policymakers, and community leaders with CHCI. Bryan’s goal is to contribute to initiatives that benefit all people, particularly underserved communities, through collaborative and inclusive policy-making efforts.