General Session - Closing Plenary

Keynote: Community responsibility, resilience and creating successful pathways uniquely suited for First Gen students

Alejandra Campoverdi has been a child on welfare, a White House aide to President Obama, a Harvard graduate, a gang member’s girlfriend, and a candidate for U.S. Congress. She’s ridden on Air Force One and in G-rides. She’s been featured in Maxim magazine and had a double mastectomy. Living a life of contradictory extremes often comes with the territory when you’re a “First and Only.” It also comes at a price. Alejandra is the author of “FIRST GEN: A Memoir.” Part memoir, part manifesto, FIRST GEN is a story of generational inheritance, aspiration, and the true meaning of belonging - a gripping journey to “reclaim the parts of ourselves we sacrificed in order to survive.” Alejandra draws from her own experiences to name and frame the challenges First and Onlys often face, illuminating a road to truth, healing, and change in the process. Join us Thursday morning of the CCSA Conference for this important conversation about community responsibility, resilience and creating successful pathways uniquely suited for First Gen students.

Hart Vision Innovation & Equity Awards and CharterSAFE 20-year recognition will be announced during this session.

The General Session begins promptly at 9:30am.

Presented by

Alejandra Campoverdi
Board Member
California Community Foundation; Harvard’s Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics, and Public Policy

Alejandra Campoverdi is a nationally- recognized women’s health advocate, bestselling author, founder, producer, and former White House aide to President Obama.

Alejandra’s memoir, FIRST GEN, examines the emotional toll of social mobility on those she refers to as “First and Onlys.” A national bestseller, FIRST GEN is the winner of the California Independent Booksellers Alliance (CALIBA) Golden Poppy Martin Cruz Smith Award, and was longlisted for the Outstanding Works of Literature Award for the First Year Experience. FIRST GEN is also the 2024 Opportunity Matters Book Club selection for the Council for Opportunity in Education (COE), a national book club for first-generation and low-income students at colleges and universities across the country.

Previously, Alejandra served in the Obama White House as the first White House Deputy Director of Hispanic Media. She produced and appeared in the groundbreaking PBS documentary Inheritance, and founded the LATINOS & BRCA awareness initiative in partnership with Penn Medicine’s Basser Center for BRCA.

Alejandra holds a Master in Public Policy from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government and graduated cum laude from USC. She currently sits on the boards of the California Community Foundation and Harvard’s Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics, and Public Policy.