RAY SOLORZANO

Hometown: Des Plaines, Illinois
School: Northwestern University
Major: Social Policy

Raymond was born and raised in a suburb of Chicago by his Mexican immigrant parents who came to the United States in their early 20s. Being the first member of his family to go to college he has made an effort to become more aware of the privileges and inequalities in higher education. Motivated by the urge to ensure equity for first-generation low-income (FGLI) students in college, Raymond is a mentor for the Compass Mentor Program at his school which provides first-year FGLI students one-one mentoring and peer-led workshops on identity and resources on campus.

Raymond is a Senior at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, and majoring in Social Policy with minors in Political Science and Sociology. He has focused his classes on education policy and social inequity and would like to pursue a career in social policymaking specifically in the field of higher education and racial equity in education. He would also like to pursue a master’s degree in education policy. His ultimate career goal would be to work for the Education Department’s White House Initiative for the Educational Excellence of Hispanics.

As a CHCI Intern, Raymond hopes to sharpen policy research skills and gain more insight into policy in the legislative process. He also hopes to grow his professional network with more Latinx representation in a variety of fields.