Born and raised in El Paso, Claudia is a first generation El Pasoan and Montwood High School Class of 2004 graduate. Upon her high school graduation, she entered the University of Texas at El Paso with determination to get involved and make a difference in any way she could. Whether it was her Student Government Association Senator at Large position, her presidency for the University Democrats or being a coordinator for the Center for Civic Engagement, Claudia’s years as a Political Science major and Women’s Studies minor were quite the busy ones. As she describes, “My goal was just to stay as involved as possible and make as many positive changes that I could while I was in college.”

In 2008, graduating from UTEP with department honors for Political Science and CCE, Claudia was awarded with the El Paso Young Women’s Achievement Award from the YWCA. From there, she was accepted into the Senator Gregory Luna Scholars Program in Austin,Texas where she had the opportunity to work with council members during a legislative session. While there, she met Senator Eliot Shapleigh who thought Claudia was perfect for the job of Communications Director at his office.

Being back home in El Paso for a month, Claudia is now enjoying her position as Communications Director, and as far as her duties are concerned, she explains, “My primary duty is to work with the El Paso media to inform the public about what is going on in El Paso. I am in charge of setting up meetings for the Senator as well as making statements and writing press releases regarding important community issues. I communicate with the public and reach out to our constituents to keep them up to date.”

Although Claudia’s educational background is not in communications, she believes, “If you have a good education background, no matter what the concentration is, you can do anything. As long as you are motivated and energized, you are capable of a lot more than what your degree says. Training comes from on the job experience and that is what I am doing right now, learning something every day.”