HCM Welcomes Rachel Rivas as a 2025 Policy Fellow
Rachel Rivas Joins HCM’s Policy Team as a 2025 Summer Fellow
Welcome to HCM, Rachel!
Rachel is a California native and lifelong resident. She earned her M.A. in Education from San Francisco State University and B.A. in Sociology from University of California, San Diego. As a first-generation college student, she developed a passion for education and breaking down barriers to access and opportunity among traditionally underserved student populations. She is a current student in the Ed.D. in Educational Leadership program at California State University, Long Beach. Her research focuses on equitable funding policies to support the access-oriented missions of institutions that serve low-income and students of color.
Rachel has over ten years of experience working in higher education. As the current Associate Director for Academic Planning at CSU Long Beach, she supports enrollment management and student success initiatives. Previously, she worked in faculty affairs at Stanford School of Medicine and in student services at an education technology start-up in the San Francisco Bay Area. Through this professional experience, Rachel brings skills in data analysis, project management, and operational support to the Education Policy Fellow role.
After completing her doctorate degree, Rachel plans to pursue a career in policy research and advocacy to advance equitable funding strategies that foster student success.
Rachel will work with HCM’s policy team on postsecondary access and funding issues by supporting such projects as HCM’s work with student parents for the Annie E. Casey Foundation, economic mobility and college value research in her home state of California on behalf of the College Futures Foundation, and support for Lumina’s Strategy Labs, among other policy initiatives and projects.
We look forward to Rachel’s insights, expertise, and enthusiasm as she joins us in advancing educational equity at HCM Strategists.
About the HCM Strategists Fellowship Program
The HCM Strategists fellowship program offers a unique opportunity for professional growth and learning by granting first-hand experience in education public policy.
Our fellowship program is open to collaborative, organized problem-solvers who have a strong interest in education policy and are passionate about improving education for all students through communications and advocacy. Our fellows are enthusiastic, innovative and strategic thinkers with excellent verbal and written communications skills, and have a strong commitment to our clients and our work in the policy field. Our fellows play an important role in supporting leaders across our education team, specifically in the areas of state and federal funding, strategic finance and accountability, reporting systems and data transparency, workforce development and career-competitive learning initiatives, advancing access and opportunity for all students, and other areas of higher education policy.
HCM Strategists is an impact-driven consulting firm that believes in the transformative power of education and work-based learning to improve social and economic mobility for communities that have been marginalized or historically underserved. Our work delivers a consequential impact on the national narrative, policy options and leaders responsible for change.
