First Gen Speaks: A Conversation with Author Alejandra Campoverdi

UC San Diego welcomes advocate and national bestselling author Alejandra Campoverdi for a discussion of her best-selling book, First-Gen: A Memoir. This event is held in honor of National First-Gen Day, which recognizes students, staff, faculty, and community members who are the first in their families to attend college.

This event will feature a Q&A with Alejandra moderated by Lisa Ordóñez, Dean of UC San Diego's Rady School of Management and a fellow first-generation student. The event will also include an audience Q&A and book signing.

About Alejandra Campoverdi:

Alejandra's award-winning 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) Martin Cruz Smith Award, and was longlisted for the Outstanding Works of Literature (OWL) 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 serves on the boards of the California Community Foundation and Harvard's Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics, and Public Policy, and is a Senior Fellow at the USC Center on Communication Leadership and Policy.

About Dean Lisa Ordóñez:

Dr. Lisa D. Ordóñez was appointed Dean of UC San Diego’s Rady School of Management in September 2019. As the school’s second dean she is transitioning Rady from a start-up to focus on growth. She has helped secure nearly $20M in funding for Rady centers of excellence, further cementing the school’s global business research prominence and impact as an innovation focused, economic engine within the San Diego business community and beyond.

Program Sponsors:

This event is made possible through several campus partners that are dedicated to uplifting the first-generation college student, faculty, and staff experience at UC San Diego: Student Affairs & Campus Life, Library, Student Retention and Success (Triton Firsts, Online Student Experience, and Student Success Programs), Latinx Heritage Month Committee, Online Student Experience, Student Success Programs.

Parking and Directions:

Driving: All visitors to the UC San Diego campus are required to display a valid parking pass. The closest parking to the Great Hall is the Hopkins Pangea Parking Structure. For information about accessible parking on campus, click here.

Bus: City bus routes Rapid 201 Super Loop, Rapid 202 Super Loop, 30, 41 and 101 all go through UC San Diego.

Trolley: The trolley's Blue Line provides direct, frequent service to UC San Diego. Exit at the UC San Diego Central Campus Station. Great Hall is approximately 0.9 miles away via Voigt Drive. For more information, visit the UC San Diego PRONTO FAQ or use the MTS Trip Planner.

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