Obama Scholar Miriam Benitez Isidoro, MAIDP Class of 2019

When Miriam Benitez Isidoro, 28, earned her BS in Political Science and International Relations from the Center for Research and Teaching in Economics, it was a milestone for her family: she was the first of her family to go to college. Motivated to “empower and inspire children born in unfavorable context so they can overcome their conditions or origin,” she’s keenly aware of the impact of a good education on a child’s life and a community’s future.

Working through Mexico’s Ministry of Education, Benitez Isidoro is a part of a working group in charge of implementing the Education Reform in Upper Secondary Education in Mexico. Her work directly impacts young people from marginalized communities by providing them access to better educational services and training a highly-skilled generation of teachers.

Through her work, Benitez Isidoro has utilized evidence-based data and analysis to inform policymakers and policy, and looks forward to learning more from her fellow Obama Scholars. “What most excites me about the Obama Foundation Scholars Program is the opportunity to meet young people that, just like me, are working to empower people around the world and to build more prosperous communities,” she says.

After the MAIDP program, her goal is to implement a cutting-edge policy approach in Mexico to improve scholar outcomes and combat inequality.

“Because of my life story and my work at the Ministry of Education, I understand the potential of education policies and of non-cognitive skills to reduce the gaps generated by socioeconomic status in educational outcomes and in life. The change that I am aiming to generate in my country is a shift in the focus of policies directed to fight inequality through school.”