CVNMEF Board President

Oriana Sandoval is the chief executive officer at the Center for Civic Policy, a nonpartisan organization that strives to involve everyday New Mexicans in the public policy decisions that affect their lives, with the goal of achieving positive and lasting change. A native of New Mexico, Oriana received her Bachelor of Arts in diplomacy and world affairs from Occidental College; a master’s degree in Public Policy from the University of California — Berkeley Goldman School of Public Policy; and a Juris Doctor from UC Berkeley School of Law (Boalt Hall). She is currently a member of the New Mexico Bar Association.

Oriana has worked on economic development, environmental justice, conservation and civil rights issues for more than a decade. Oriana worked with the UC Berkeley Labor Center to provide leadership development trainings to Latino immigrant grassroots organizers in California’s Central Valley. She clerked at the Center on Race Poverty and the Environment where she conducted research for litigation on climate change issues and cases involving the violation of air quality standards in California’s Central Valley. Oriana also clerked at the Oakland, CA, Centro Legal de la Raza where she provided legal services to low-income community members in the areas of housing, employment and immigration.

In 2011, Oriana served as the founding executive director of New Mexico Vote Matters, a non-profit organization committed to the empowerment and participation of historically disenfranchised communities in New Mexico. At the Center for Civic Policy, Oriana leads the organization’s policy and civic engagement campaigns.