Nelly is a Mexican candidate for the MA in Security Studies at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service (SFS). She holds a BA in International Relations with a modality in Leadership for Social Development, magna cum laude, from Tecnológico de Monterrey as a recipient of the Gallagher Foundation Scholarship. She serves as a Hemispheric Security, Human Rights, and International Law Analyst at the Permanent Mission of Mexico to the Organization of American States (OAS). Previously, she collaborated as a full-time intern at the OAS Department against Transnational Organized Crime.

Having grown up during the “war on drugs” and experienced drug-related violence, Nelly plans to use her time at SFS to become a policymaker who addresses the challenges related to organized crime with a holistic and human rights-centered approach. She is an active promoter of a gender perspective, inclusion, and environmental sustainability. Nelly believes in the power of bottom-up initiatives to drive global impact and has worked directly with vulnerable Mexican communities to achieve the economic empowerment of women. As a youth delegate to the World Bank (2023) and the United Nations (2016), she carries the youth, peace & security agenda with great promise.