President of the Student Government

Contact: president@ausg.org

Office Hours: Monday (4:00 - 5:00 p.m.), Tuesday (11:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.), Wednesday (7:00 - 9:00 p.m.), Thursday (11:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.)

Valentina Fernández (she/her/hers) is a senior studying Political Science with a minor in Education Studies.

As President, Valentina is the chief executive of AUSG and oversees advocacy and policy implementation.

Originally from Venezuela and raised in Poinciana, FL, she served as the Student Trustee on American University’s Board of Trustees, becoming the first LatinX person to hold the role. Val currently serves as the undergraduate student on President Burwell’s strategic planning committee. On campus, Valentina previously held the roles of Vice President of AU College Democrats, Constitutional Law Teaching Assistant, EmpowerAU facilitator, Orientation Leader, and Resident Assistant.

Most recently, she interned with DC Public Schools supporting Career and Technical Education programs and college and career counselors. She has co-developed a 60-hour civics curriculum for middle schoolers in DC, helped produce MTV Logo’s 2015 “Top 25 LGBT Trailblazer Companies” report, and has observed policy in action during her time at AU. Valentina is a 2017-2018 Public Policy and International Affairs Fellow, completing a Junior Summer Institute at Carnegie Mellon.

You can usually find Val exploring coffee shops in Downtown DC, happy hour, The Bridge, or singing Disney songs. Valentina hopes to continue working in politics and policy to create equitable education policy reforms that reduce barriers to access to higher education. She looks forward to a year full of collaboration with students to build a more inclusive, and effective AU for all of us.