Melissa Cedillo

Melissa Cedillo

HDS
Melissa Cedillo

Project: Faith in Public Life. Orlando, FL. Campaign Associate. Advocating and organizing for voting rights.

Melissa Cedillo was born and raised in California's Coachella Valley. She attended Loyola Marymount University (LMU) in Los Angeles where she earned a BA in Theological Studies. While at LMU she focused on domestic violence advocacy, promoting civic engagement among her peers, and student government. Melissa is the first in her family to graduate from college.

After college, Melissa spent time in Washington DC as a campaign associate for Faith in Public Life working to defend the integrity of the 2020 Census.

Currently, she is a graduate student at Harvard Divinity School (HDS) studying religion, ethics, and politics through a public policy lens. Melissa is a member of the Harvard Prison Divestment campaign and HDS Catholics. This summer she will be working with Faith in Public Life as a faithful voter field director focusing on faith based Latinx voting initiatives. She is passionate about bridging the gap between progressive politics and religion in America. Melissa is dedicated to learning about and advocating for preventative domestic violence policy, reproductive justice, immigration advocacy, pushing for prison divestment, and decarceration work.

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