Keynote: Cindy Nava

UNM Alumna, Senior policy advisor to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

Upon arriving to the U.S. as child from Chihuahua, Mexico, Cindy was raised in the city of Santa Fe, New Mexico and is proud to call herself a “Mexican-New Mexican.” Growing up undocumented, Cindy managed to surpass many political barriers, became a first generation HS and College graduate and went on to take unprecedented positions within education, immigration policy, and politics at a state and national level.

Cindy marked historical precedent after becoming the first undocumented person to intern for a national political party in Washington, DC, and the first DACA recipient to work as a Majority Pool Analyst for the New Mexico House of Representatives. Cindy later went on to be rated as one of the "40 under 40s: Latinos in US Politics“ by the Huffington Post. Cindy, has been featured on national and international media outlets such as; FOX News, Univision, The Washington Post, The NY Times, The International news agency EFE, and others. 

As a former policy analyst, a non-profit executive and a political operative Cindy is known as an influencer and as a positive interrupter. Cindy utilizes the power of her lived experiences, struggles, and strengths to empower communities of color, youth, and leaders across the country through her work in the areas of policy, education, politics, leadership development, and advocacy. She is a policy advocate and believes in strengthening voices through civic engagement, education and holistic methods rooted in innovative and transformational leadership practices that guide the creation of conscious policy initiatives that support marginalized communities across the country. As a former DACA recipient, Cindy has focused on opening access for immigrants interested in policy and politics to begin a pathway of leadership development and training that creates opportunities for them to serve within those sectors.

Cindy is a motivational speaker and leadership trainer who works to empower communities of color through direct civic engagement strategies. Her passion for strengthening women’s voices in policy and politics has led to numerous leadership opportunities collaborating with EMERGE America, Ready to Run, as a TEDx speaker and as a member of the UndocuTalks Podcast. She serves on the board of numerous organizations and is a graduate of the Aspen Institute and the National Latino Center for Leadership Development Academy. Formerly, Cindy served as Executive Director of Learning Alliance New Mexico, and as Chief Administrative Officer at The United States Hispanic Leadership Institute in Chicago, Illinois. She went on to serve as Political Director for Congressman Ben Ray Lujan’s U.S. Senate Campaign, as Santa Fe Lead Liaison for the Assistant Speaker of the House: Congressman Ben Ray Lujan, and is now Principal of Nava Strategies.