Skip navigation Jump to main navigation

Applications for 2024 Columbia Summer Session programs are now open!

Close alert

Sonia Melendez Reyes

Speaker; Associate Director of Policy and Engagement, Hispanics in Philanthropy

Sonia leads HIP in advancing the organization’s public policy and advocacy goals including census and voter outreach and cultivating new partnerships to build national and regional support for the organization’s philanthropic mission.

Sonia previously served as Deputy Communications Director at EMILY’s List, the largest resource for women in politics in the country, where she established new partnerships with national leaders to help champion women’s policy issues including access to quality education, equal pay, affordable child care, and paid family leave to a wide array of audiences. She previously served as a communications adviser to former U.S. Secretary of Labor and former Congresswoman Hilda L. Solis, where she managed communications and served as a liaison between the Labor Department and the White House in coordinating outreach efforts. She has also worked for news organizations including CBS, CNBC, KABC, KTLA-TV, and Hispanic Link News Service.