Gladys Cisneros (BSFS & CLAS 2006) serves as the first Director and Special Advisor on International Labor at the National Security Council (NSC) in the White House. Before joining the Biden Administration, she spent over ten years at the Solidarity Center, AFL-CIO where she held several positions, including Field Program Specialist in Lima, Peru, and Americas Program Director in its DC headquarters. Between 2017 and 2021, she served as the Solidarity Center’s Mexico Program Director in Mexico City. Originally from California, Gladys was a student leader who fought for workers’ rights during her years on the Hill Top, becoming a national organizer for “United Students Against Sweatshops” upon graduation. 

She recently spoke with CLAS and reflected upon her years at Georgetown and how her M.A. in Latin American Studies has influenced her personal, professional and intellectual growth. She said that “… the M.A. in Latin American Studies opened a world to me that I didn't know was there. I mean that quite literally -  as the daughter of Mexican immigrants, I knew nothing much beyond the rural villages of my family. CLAS awakened a passion to understand why so many of Georgetown's janitorial staff had fled El Salvador; to analyze the origins of Colombia's civil war, and imagine peace; and to delve into the thriving cultures and present-day challenges of Brazil's Afro-descendents. And more importantly, it made me want to act, and supported me on the path I'm on today.”

CLAS will welcome Gladys back to campus on September 29th for an event entitled “My Journey: A Conversation with Gladys Cisneros.”