June 16, 2016

Norma Jean Revilla-Garcia

HACU names Maria Alvarez as executive director of Western Regional Office in Sacramento

The Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU) has named Maria Alvarez as its executive director of Western States Legislative Affairs, effective June 20, 2016. In this role, she will lead efforts to address state issues in Hispanic higher education in California, Arizona, Nevada, Washington and Oregon, from the association’s Western Regional Office in Sacramento, California.  

Alvarez has been working in the California public policy arena for over 20 years at the state and local levels. She brings extensive knowledge of the state budget process and experience developing legislative strategy. For more than 10 years, she served as the chief of staff for Sacramento City Councilmembers Kevin McCarty and Eric Guerra. Prior to those positions, she worked as chief of staff for California State Assembly member and chair of the Assembly Budget Committee Denise Moreno Ducheny.
 
“Maria Alvarez brings a wealth of experience at the state legislative and local government levels to lead HACU’s Western Regional Office,” said HACU President and CEO Antonio R. Flores. “We are very excited to have her join HACU.”  
 
Alvarez’ public policy experience includes working in the California State Capitol as a K-12 and higher education legislative aide, and as the Latino Legislative Caucus consultant. She also staffed the original California Dream Act legislation, AB 540, for undocumented students while working in the legislature.
 
Alvarez received her master's degree in education policy from the University of California, Davis (UC Davis) and a bachelor's in psychology from the University of California, Santa Cruz (UC Santa Cruz). UC Davis and UC Santa Cruz are both HACU-member institutions.