Associate Manager – High School Operations
shernandez@chicagodebates.org
In this role, Lucia Hernandez is best known as the CEO of supporting the successful implementation of high school programming including curriculum building, coach support and tournament operations. This also means leading the High School Coach Council and co-directing the summer speech and debate camp.
Debate changed the trajectory of Lucia’s life and she is blessed to have the opportunity to shape the lives of Chicago youth, ensuring the next generation has that same experience.
A product of the Chicago public school system, Lucia was a first-generation college student at the University of Wisconsin- Madison. She established the seventeenth chapter of a Latina service-based sorority, Gamma Alpha Omega, where she mentored other first-generation college students and helped host two conferences aimed at addressing and educating students and the Madison community about issues in the Latin@ community.
Upon completing a B.A. in International Studies and Chicana/Latina Studies, Lucia started her nonprofit career running youth development programs across Chicago and the Silicon Valley Area in California, working with nonprofits like Gads Hill Center, WES Health System and the Silicon Valley Urban Debate League. When Lucia is not running and building debate programs, she loves volunteering and getting together with her family for dinner and games.
