Maria Elena Cortes is a junior at The University of Texas at Austin majoring in political communication with a minor in Mandarin Chinese. She is a Mexican American and first-generation college student. On campus, Cortes held roles as assistant director of community engagement and outreach for the UT Student Government’s Women's Resource Agency and was a Texas Civic Ambassador for the Annette Strauss Institute. Off campus, Cortes interned for the Office of Texas State Representative Penny Morales-Shaw (HD-148) and recently worked in research and communications at HillCo Partners Lobbying Company. Cortes hopes to explore various political interests as an Archer Fellow in Washington, D.C., and is most interested in the public sector and public interest lobbying.