Kacy Alejo

Kacy Alejo-Rios is a Research and Policy Fellow at the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) National Office in Washington, D.C. She is a first-generation college student and a rising senior at Bucknell University, majoring in Economics with a minor in Applied Statistics. Originally from Echo Park in Los Angeles, California, Kacy’s experiences witnessing her community grapple with the effects of gentrification fueled her commitment to public policy and advocacy aimed at uplifting marginalized communities nationwide.Kacy actively fosters community through several campus roles at Bucknell. She serves as a mentor for first-year students of color in the Together Everyone Achieves More (T.E.A.M.) program, a Residential Advisor with the Office of Residential Education, and a Student Mailroom Assistant. Her extracurricular pursuits reflect a deep-rooted passion for equity and access.

Beyond the academic setting, Kacy combines her background in Economics and Data Science to address issues of accessibility for low-income populations. She interned at the Salvadoran American Leadership and Educational Fund (SALEF) in 2023, supporting community-based legal and immigration services. Additionally, she collaborated with research advisors Dr. Abby Flynt and Dr. Owais Gilani to develop an open-source R package that enhances map-making accessibility for individuals with Color Vision Deficiency.

Following her undergraduate studies, Kacy plans to pursue an MBA in Economics and work toward building an equitable and sustainable economy through evidence-based policymaking.