I am originally from Ventura County and moved to LA in 2010 to attend the University of Southern California for undergrad where I majored in Political Science and Philosophy. After graduating from USC in the winter of 2011, I obtained my M.A. from California State University Northridge (CSUN) in 2014. While at CSUN I  served as a teaching assistant for the Political Science department, including a course taught by former Governor Linda Lingle (HI). In June of 2021, I completed my Ph.D. in  Political Science at the University of California Los Angeles under the supervision of my advisor Matt Barreto. As a graduate student, I was actively involved in conducting research as a part of UCLA’s Latino Policy and Politics Initiative. I also worked on the Biden campaign in 2020 as a part of Latino Decisions.

After completing my Ph.D. in 2021, I moved to Austin Texas, and was a part of the inaugural Provost‘s Early Career Fellows postdoctoral program. I am currently an assistant professor in Mexican American and Latina\o Studies where I teach courses on Latino identity, the Census voting rights, and immigration policy.