Meet Kim Lopez
Hello! My name is Kim Lopez and I am a program manager at Rodel. I am excited to join the team and use my experiences to impact education in meaningful ways. As the first in my family to go to college, I can’t say that I knew I would end up working in education, but I knew that I wanted to do work that allowed me to make our community better and stronger.
I was born and raised in Delaware and I love being able to have an impact in a community that I deeply care about. From my personal experience, I know that a great education can really change the trajectory of one’s life. I loved school from almost the first day (my first day of kindergarten was actually very hard!) but found the process to get to college incredibly confusing. Through a series of fortunate events, I ended up studying Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell University on a need-based financial aid award, which covered almost the entire cost. As a university student, I worked in the admissions office to help other students like myself fall in love with Cornell. After graduating from college, I became a Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute Public Policy Fellow and worked with U.S. Senator Chris Coons on immigration and education issues.
After my fellowship, I spent several years working at the University of Pennsylvania admissions office, where I learned that it takes a lot more than simply being interested in a college for students to gain admission. I loved working in admissions because I got to help students learn about college while also visiting students and schools all over the U.S., and even in places like Jamaica, Dominican Republic, and Mexico.
However, I became increasingly worried about students’ ability to access top quality education at an affordable cost. This interest led me to work with students from Delaware with TeenSHARP, where I worked with students and families from across the state to understand their educational options and help them create even more opportunities for themselves. Being strategic with opportunities in and out of school allowed my students to attend top colleges at a low cost, in Delaware and beyond.
It shouldn’t take luck or calculated strategy for students to reach their fullest potential, which is why I am excited to work at Rodel—to ensure that students have access to the quality education, experiences, and resources, they need to be successful.
I currently serve on the advisory board for People to People Delaware and the board of directors for First State Montessori Academy. When I am not in meetings or working, you can usually find me at my home in Middletown with my husband, son, dog, and cat, relaxing in the hammock, listening to Spanish rock/pop, or watching the newest “Selena” series on Netflix.
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