Lupita Gonzalez

Born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, I was a student in the Chicago Public Schools system until I attended Josephinum Academy of the Sacred Heart, an all-girls Catholic high school in Chicago’s Wicker Park neighborhood. During my high school years, I developed leadership and personable skills and realized my love for writing and activism. As a high school student, I worked directly with Josephinum’s marketing and development departments to learn more about how the school functioned. As the head writer for Josephinum’s blog, I contributed monthly posts with original content for prospective students, alumni, and community members. I was privileged to work with local organizations including Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship and the Mikva Challenge where I worked on social issues like sex trafficking in Chicago and sexual violence on college campuses. With the “behind the scenes” work that I witnessed and got to be a part of, I knew I wanted to continue to work for nonprofits and for those who need advocacy. I graduated from Josephinum with National Honor Society recognition in 2014.

I completed my undergraduate degree at Saint Mary's University of Minnesota in Winona, Minnesota. During my sophomore year at Saint Mary’s, I led the first charge by students in recent memory to review university practices around sexual misconduct reporting and Title IX procedures. In November 2015, I represented Saint Mary’s at Know Your IX's Midwest student activism boot camp in St. Louis, Missouri. With administrative support from my university, I learned about existing federal laws and guidelines that apply to campus violence, how to conduct outreach successfully, what a survivor-led organization looks like in practice, how to organize and build partnerships with other anti-violence activists, and how to identify criteria for what makes a strong campus policy.

As a result from this training, I was a member of the university’s planning committee for sexual assault awareness month where I worked with other student activists, the Dean of Students, and Title IX Coordinator on sexual assault and harassment education and advocacy. Lastly, I participated in a panel where I answered questions regarding Title IX at the university after viewing The Hunting Ground.

I have a Bachelor's Degree in English. Additionally, I have taken 24 credits of Communications courses to enhance my Public Relations, Marketing, and Journalism skills.