Hometown: Bell, CA
School: University of California, Berkeley
Major: Ethnic Studies, Chicano Studies
Placement 1: Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard (CA-34)
Placement 2: The United States Student Association
Daniel Montes is currently placed in the Office of the United States Student Association, the oldest and largest student led organization in the country. His first placement was in the Office of Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard (CA-34). As a legislative fellow, Danny researched health care policies and statistics about the Latino community and their impact on the 2008 election cycle. He also attended briefings and hearings on a wide range of policy issues from immigration to education to health care disparities.
As a fellow within the office of the United States Student Association, Danny monitors and tracks policy issues that directly affect students. He works closely with the legislative director following current policies to help students with the resources they need.
Recently, Danny assisted the national training director with preparations for the association’s 40th Annual National Grassroots Legislative Conference. He was in charge of recruitment and registration for the event as well as providing the students pertinent information before the conference. With Danny’s help, the United States Student Organization was able to recruit over 400 students to its conference and over 100 lobby visits to its National Lobby Day following the conference.
Danny received a double major of Ethnic Studies and Chicano studies at the University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley). During his college tenure, Danny was the outreach coordinator for the Raza Recruitment and Retention Center, a student-run campus organization that worked on recruiting and retaining Latino students in to higher education. As a senior, Danny became the Student Body External Affairs Vice President. As Vice President, he was in charge of representing the students of the UC Berkeley at- large.
Recently, Danny won the award of Trainer of the Year by the United States Student Association at his alma mater’s alumni awards reception. He trained students across the country to build electoral power and organize voter coalitions through the Electoral Action Training program.
In his free time, Danny enjoys watching movies, talking to his 7-year-old brother, sightseeing in DC, and spending quality time with friends.