Sacramento, CA (2018) – The California Student Aid Commission (Commission) welcomes University of Southern California junior Maria Fernanda Manjarrez as the most recent Commission appointee of Gov. Jerry Brown. Ms. Manjarrez is expected to attend the next meeting of the Commission on September 13-14, 2018, in Rancho Cordova.

“We are excited to welcome Ms. Manajarrez to the Commission,” said Executive Director Lupita Cortez Alcalá. “Her experience at Pasadena City College and now at USC will provide the Commission with the perspectives from a community college student, a first-generation college student, and someone who has transferred institutions to continue her education.”

Ms. Manajarrez is one of the two student representatives on the 15-member Commission, which is tasked with the mission of making education beyond high school financially accessible to all Californians. Her term is 2 years and is subject to Senate confirmation.

Ms. Manjarrez, 19, was graduated from Temple City High School, and attended one year at Pasadena City College before being accepted at her dream school, the University of Southern California. She became politically involved on campus as an Unruh Associate, a student-run organization which promotes political diversity and civil debates across all ends of the political spectrum.

Ms. Manjarrez, who is majoring in both public policy and political science, also partnered with the USC Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics and the Skid Row Housing Trust to research capacity-building strategies by looking into national case studies and making policy recommendations for how Los Angeles should structure its response to the permeating issue that is homelessness. She has interned with Hispanas Organized for Political Equality, a non-profit with a mission to ensure political and economic parity for Latinas, and served constituents in the 33rd District as a Congressional Intern for Congressman Ted W. Lieu.