Hareth Andrade Ayala joined the Government Affairs Team on July 25, 2022 to coordinate grassroots advocacy and support initiatives across the American Retirement Association’s (ARA) five sister organizations with an emphasis on enhancing the ARA Government Affairs team’s member engagement strategy.
Hareth is coordinating programs to address social and economic issues that affect retirement policy. She is also developing and sustaining relationships with targeted members to encourage and coordinate member engagement with federal and state elected officials.
Hareth joined the ARA after serving as a national staffer with Mi Familia Vota (MFV), working on voter engagement. Before joining MFV, she worked on grassroots strategy as former Va. Governor Ralph Northam’s Regional Political Director and state Senator Dick Saslaw’s Deputy Field Manager. She previously conducted political research for Our Revolution – America’s leading grassroots funded progressive political organizing group and lobbied on behalf of the Bridge Project by the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) as an Outreach and Legislative Associate. As a board member of The United We Dream Network, Hareth helped win domicile status for immigrant students under a deferred action policy, changing the interpretation of the tuition law in Virginia. Hareth also helped to establish the Dream Project Inc. a nonprofit, organization that provides resources and mentors Virginia students whose immigration status creates barriers to higher education.
Hareth has a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Relations from Trinity Washington University and took master’s level courses in Macro Social Work at The Catholic University of America.