Sophia Del Mar Ortiz Vicente 

CHCI Public Policy Fellow

Presented by Google 

Hometown: Coamo, Puerto Rico 

School: University of Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras 

Degree: B.A. in Communication – Public Relations and Advertising 

Placement: The Office of Representative Norma Torres

Sophia Del Mar Ortiz Vicente (she/her) grew up in Coamo, Puerto Rico, and is the eldest daughter of two Puerto Rican teachers. Her community and family background have inspired her interest in public policy and since childhood, she showed a great passion for the arts, which led her to attend School of Fine Arts. At the school of fine arts, she studied theater and film, which gave her the tools to later create her own film production company with the mission of providing opportunities for women in positions of power and southern artists. Through short films, she highlighted the normalization of gender violence and the obstacles to finding meaning in life. This sparked the question in her of how she could help more people through her work.   

Sophia attended the University of Puerto Rico, where she received her Bachelor of Arts in Communications with a concentration in Public Relations and Advertising. In college, she had the opportunity to direct a documentary, “Las Ponkas Activistas,” about LGBTQ+ activists at the University of Puerto Rico. In the process of creating the film, she observed the precariousness suffered by the UPR student body and how it is mirrored in Puerto Rican society, which solidified her interest in public policy. She went on to participate in the Jorge A. Ramos Comas Legislative Internship in the office of Representative Jocelyne Rodríguez and the Women’s Affairs Committee of the Puerto Rico House of Representatives. There she was able to draft a bill to protect the labor rights of sex workers. Afterward, Sophia was one of the Global Leaders of the Congressional Hispanic Leadership Institution (CHLI). As part of CHLI, Ortiz was the communications intern for Senator Edward Markey’s [D-Mass.] office and the North America Government Relations Intern for Accenture. Recently, as a Public Relations Agent for the USDA Caribbean Climate Hub, Sophia led a team redesigning the Hub’s website. Through her work, she has always sought to improve the quality of life in her community.   

As a CHCI Public Policy Fellow, Sophia hopes to learn more about the policy-making and communication process and how solutions for the Puerto Rican crises can best be put into practice.