We’re in the early weeks of another semester here at the Ford School. As students get settled into new routines and new schedules, let’s meet one of the remarkable MPP students from the 2023 cohort: Alex Perez-Garcia!

Where are you from?
My family lives in the Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas area, but for the last nine years, I’ve lived in Chicago, Illinois, before relocating to Ann Arbor last year.
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What were you doing before you came to Ford?

Before coming to Ford, I was Associate Director of Development and Communications at Disability Lead, a grassroots disability rights nonprofit, where I was a founding team member and grew the nonprofit startup organization through high-quality strategic fundraising and community outreach. Outside of this work, since 2019, I’ve also worked with underrepresented, first-time progressive political candidates to build the capacity of their campaigns by providing compliance, financial, and fundraising services.

I chose Ford because of the enduring sense of community. It’s clear from every interaction I’ve had in the classroom or with student leadership groups that Fordies deeply care about each other and hold a deep commitment to social change. The conversations I’ve had here aim to challenge and progress the status quo making it a ripe environment to train future policymakers.

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What do you want to do with your Ford degree?

My academic interests lie at the intersection of social and health policy, focusing on mental health and disability policy. After spending the last five years working in the nonprofit sector, I hope to pivot to the public sector. Ideally, I hope to work at the federal level on mental health equity and justice related issues.