FEDORA COPLEY

Reed College, B.A., Spanish

While at Reed, Fedora studied abroad in Ecuador and wrote her thesis on indigenous hip-hop as a form of political resistance in Ecuador and Bolivia. She was the resident advisor for Reed’s Spanish dorm, during which time she worked with scholars from Argentina and Spain to create campus-wide cultural events. Inspired by studying Spanish literature at Reed, Fedora has since translated scholarly articles from Spanish to English for the literary theory journal 452°. She now works as a tutor for underserved high school students in Portland, Oregon, supporting students academically as well as personally in order to help them thrive in school. Fedora is fluent in Spanish and studies Italian and French. This fall, Fedora will volunteer with an organization on the U.S.–Mexico border to support recent immigrants in finding resources and employment.

JOSE RODRIGUEZ, JR.

Reed College, B.A., Political Science

Jr is from Houston, Texas, and had his first taste of international service work in high school, when he traveled to El Salvador to build dual-compost latrines, helped construct a youth center in Ghana, and worked on refugee assimilation in Houston. While at Reed College, Jr’s studies focused on international relations, the environment, and Spanish literature. His undergraduate thesis explored the implications of rare earth metals on U.S. national security. During college, Jr led groups of incoming freshman students on outdoor adventure and team-building trips. After Reed, he taught high school English in rural Thailand to over 300 students for a year and was a bilingual legal assistant in Oregon, assisting people from various socioeconomic backgrounds settle personal injury claims. Jr has led service programs for National Geographic Student Expeditions in Costa Rica and Peru. He is currently the manager of programs and development for the Greens Bayou Coalition in Houston, Texas, an infrastructure development initiative to benefit the economy and enhance the quality of life in the Greens Bayou Watershed through parks, trails, and flood mitigation projects. Jr is fluent in Spanish.