Karina Suzette Hernandez

Karina is a Policy and Research Analyst II for the Educational Equity team at Catalyst California. In this role, she focuses on promoting equitable access to high-quality early learning and care for all children and their families. Before joining Catalyst California, she engaged in policy research with the Aspen Institute’s Financial Security Program where she focused on identifying innovative policy solutions to make our benefit system more equitable and worked on creating the 2022 Benefit Scorecard, a framework to assess the performance of public and private benefits. Previously,Karina was a Program Manager for NALEO Educational Fund where she worked closely with policymakers and crafted professional development opportunities that were focused on education policy issues ranging from cradle to career. Karina earned her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of California, Riverside, and her Master of Public Policy with a concentration in public policy analysis methods from the University of Michigan. During her time in Michigan, she served as an Executive Board Member of Students of Color in Public Policy.