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CHCI – Google Public Policy Fellow

Hometown: Hoffman Estates, Illinois

School: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Degrees: B.S. Business Administration/Marketing

Placement 1: Small Business Administration, Office of Entrepreneurial Development

Placement 2: Office of Sen. Cory Booker

David Perez is a first-generation American and college student, son to a Mexican father and Colombian mother. David grew up in the Chicagoland Area, and attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. While at Illinois, David completed summer internships at Google, Microsoft, and The White House and spent a year abroad in Brazil and China studying economics and business. Following his CHCI Fellowship, he will begin his MBA at Harvard Business School.

David is a passionate advocate of economic and social mobility for new Americans. As a Fulbright Scholar in Mexico City, David worked at Endeavor, a U.S. based nonprofit that develops entrepreneurship in emerging economies through mentorship, advocacy, and consulting. Following his Fulbright, David worked at a venture capital impact fund dedicated to providing financial investments to social for-profit enterprises. David also helped lead the Catapulta U Camp, a conference dedicated to teaching top Mexican university students the tools and skillsets needed to launch their own social, community-based organizations.

As a CHCI Public Policy Fellow, David hopes to achieve a better understanding of how government can collaborate with the private and nonprofit sectors to increase economic and entrepreneurial opportunities for new Americans. He hopes to use the experiences he gains in CHCI to become a stronger advocate for investing in immigrant and minority entrepreneurs, as well as business owners.