Jose Alvarez
JOSE ALVAREZ (he/him) Jose A. Alvarez is a current Master of Urban & Regional Planning Candidate at UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs, with an interest in infrastructure financing, grant management, and program evaluation of urban policy.
Born and raised in Chicago, Jose has been shaped by cities and their diverse communities. As the son of immigrant parents from Mexico, he has dedicated himself to public service since he graduated from Northwestern University in 2015.
Jose spent over three years with the U.S. Department of Justice where he investigated white-collar crime with an emphasis on financial antitrust violations and regulation.
He then joined then-Senator Kamala Harris’ presidential bid in 2019, beginning his formal work as an organizer. He furthered his civic engagement career by joining the Everybody Votes Campaign, as a Program Manager in Nevada, overseeing a Voter Registration Program that registered over 81 thousand people in 2020, with a focus on underrepresented communities of color.
Continuing his passion for community engagement and empowerment, he joined the Los Angeles Neighborhood Initiative (LANI), focusing on community development and improvement projects across the Los Angeles metropolitan area. LANI exposed him to the culturally rich communities across Los Angeles, deepening his relationship with the city.
