Monica Cevallos: A catalyst for change A leader, innovator and intellectual, Cevallos advocates for silent voices By Odalis

Lopez
During the week, she is an Associate at Latinovations, the Latino practicearea of the Dewey Square Group, a premier national public affairs firm. On the weekends, she travels to different cities to attend national conferences on behalf of clients, speaks on panels with vast audiences, and advances the Political Education Initiative, which she created, for Lambda Theta Alpha Latin Sorority Incorporated. Despite living a fast-paced lifestyle, Monica Cevallos constantly serves as a voice for Latinos nationwide. Cevallos educates Latinos on political initiatives, encourages Latinos to exercise their right to vote and empowers Latino youth to get involved in their communities. Facing the unknown As a first-generation Latina, college was more challenging than it seemed and Cevallos did not have much guidance. Unlike most immigrants from Central and South America, Cevallos parents, Pablo and Clara, were not fleeing strife in their home countries. Clara migrated to the United States from Venezuela during her late 20s to pursue an internship and decided to stay in the United States. Pablo and his friends were on a trip in Bermuda and decided to move to the United States. Although Pablo completed some high school, Cevallos was the first in her entire family to pursue a college education and ultimately attain a degree. With this great accomplishment comes a challenge that many first-generation college students face: lack of guidance and resources. (more)

Cevallos, p. 2 Cevallos said that not knowing enough about the college process and resources was her greatest obstacle. The first thing I wanted to do was law school, whereas if I knew there was an option of policy, I probably would have gotten involved in it a long time ago and would have been doing what I wanted to do earlier, Cevallos said. Against all odds Instead of letting the lack of affect her, Cevallos continued to persevere. She graduated from the University of Maryland in 2006 with a
Pablo and Clara Cevallos both immigrated to the United States for better opportunities. Photo source: www.facebook.com

bachelors degree in criminal justice and a Latin American studies certificate. In 2012, she received her masters degree in public policy from George Mason University in Fairfax, Va. While at the University of Maryland, Cevallos founded Partners in Print, which is a program at the university that provides a supportive environment for parents to discover how to help their children learn to read. Partners in Print mentors conduct evening workshops with parents and their Kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grade children.

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Cevallos, p. 3 During her senior year, Cevallos was inducted into the Medallion societys

Cevallos Involvements
Guest commentator on the PBS show To The Contrary National Director of Operations and Chapter Development for The New Latino Movement Founded New Latino Voices, a video webcast project that provides Latinos with a platform to express our voices, opinions and commentaries on local and national issues. Lead Lambda Theta Alphas Political Education Initiative

Top 20 Graduating Leaders and won the La Raza Unida Award from campus administration. The La Raza Unida Award, which translates as the people united, is presented to the senior student who has contributed most significantly to the advancement of the Latino student community at the university and the general interest of the university.

After graduating with a degree in criminal justice, Cevallos decided to pursue law school, but her plans swiftly changed. Change of heart Cevallos worked at a law firm and decided to enroll in law school. She began with a summer scholars program at Pennsylvania State University. While in school, Cevallos worked with the Casa Blanca Project through the Hillary Clinton campaign. The goal of this project, which the Democratic National Committees Hispanic Caucus approved, was to transfer all the Latino voters to support the remaining democratic candidate after the presidential primary elections.

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Cevallos, p. 4 As Cevallos quickly rose to leadership positions at the firm, she realized law school was not the best option for her. After working with the Casa Blanca Project and the law firm she was with, she realized she wanted to study policy instead. She was already accepted to the program and her parents wanted her to go, so she promised them she would at least start the program and if she liked it and got a scholarship, would stay. After trying the program, she hated it and was not whole-heartedly committed to it, so she decided to leave the program. I realized that what I was really passionate about was changing law, not practicing it, Cevallos said. This passion influenced her to earn a masters degree in public policy and pursue a career in public policy. Achieving success Cevallos has used her obstacles as fuel for her passion. This year, Cevallos created a Political Education Initiative for her sorority, contributed to President Barack Obamas victory as a volunteer for his campaign and spoke at the Voto Latino Power Summit. Tanya Arditi, who worked with Cevallos over the past two years through Latinovations, says she admires Cevallos.

I realized that what I was really passionate about was changing law, not practicing it.
- Monica Cevallos

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Cevallos, p. 5 Monica is committed, Arditi said. I have noticed that with her involvement with her extracurriculars, her sorority, The New Latino Movement, Voto Latino, with everything, she always goes above and beyond. Cevallos continues to educate the Latino community on political initiatives and empower Latinos worldwide to become politically involved. This summer, Cevallos will present two workshops at Lambda Theta Alphas National Convention and will
During the 2012 presidential election, Cevallos served as Latino Vote strategist for the Organizing for America campaign. Photo source: www.facebook.com

continue to appear on webcasts and panels across the nation. To keep up with Cevallos

efforts, you can follow her on Twitter @MonicaYCevallos.

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