My name is Alexa Lagunas and I am a sophomore studying computer science with a secondary in sociology. I’m in Quincy House and I serve as the Vice President of Latinas Unidas. My project revolves around my role as Vice President and the goals I have in my leadership position to increase Latinas Unidas’s community engagement outside of Harvard’s campus.

I joined Latinas Unidas almost as soon as I arrived at Harvard’s campus. I was overwhelmed with the number of activities, clubs, and organizations I could get involved with, but Latinas Unidas was one of the few that I knew I wanted to join. I wanted to get involved with the Latinx community at Harvard, and LU seemed like the perfect place to do that. Harvard’s Latinx students make up a very small portion of the entire student population (12.2% of the class of 2023 identify as Latino/Hispanic), so I knew I wanted to embrace my Latinidad on campus as much as I could. I appreciated the welcome event that Latinas Unidas put on at the beginning of the school year, the study breaks they held, and the community they created.

The following semester, I applied and became the Co-Chair of Finance. Then I switched positions to Chair of Communications. After holding both positions I was elected as VP of the organization. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my time on LU so far and plan to continue creating space for Latinx students to make them feel more comfortable on campus. The organization has given me the space to make friends and develop critical leadership skills.