Ariana Casillas Rodriguez

Ariana Casillas Rodriguez is the Associate Manager of the Congressional Internship Program at CHCI, where she assists in supervising and mentoring program participants. This role is particularly special to her as she is also an Alumni of CHCI’s Congressional Internship Program.  

Prior to joining the CHCI team Ariana served as the Staff Assistant and Intern Coordinator for Congressman Hernández who represents Puerto Rico in Congress. This role gave Ariana a deeper understanding of the congressional processes and procedures while combining the opportunity to lead young Latino leaders within her office. Ariana remained involved with local organizations in DC and bridged the gap for these opportunities to students in Puerto Rico. 

She is a proud first-generation college graduate and Floricua, raised between central Florida and Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico. Her identity has always influenced her life— in fact her first colorguard solo performance was dedicated to Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria, she performed to “Almost Like Praying” by Lin Manuel Miranda. Ariana started her career in the House of Representatives as a CHCI intern for Congressman Frost (FL-10) and grew to become a Puerto Rico staffer. CHCI has been a part of her story in many different capacities and she’s excited to continue the mission of building pipelines and uplifting the next generation of Latino leaders.