Mariela Medina Castellanos

Tufts University, Master of Arts of Law and Diplomacy from the Fletcher School

Mariela Medina Castellanos grew up in Tijuana and after high school, she volunteered as a teacher in an indigenous community in Oaxaca, Mexico. Her experience growing up in Tijuana followed by a year teaching in Oaxaca ignited in her a fascination and curiosity about different cultures and people. In college, she joined Engineers without Borders through which Mariela designed and built a slow sand water filtration system that provided clean drinking water to a community in Thailand. Mariela graduated with a degree in civil engineering from Cal Poly because she wanted to help solve problems and provide solutions to improve ways of living. Since, she has worked as an engineer designing and managing renewable energy projects. At this point, she is excited to apply the problem-solving skills learned as an engineer to a larger scale. Mariela is ready to earn her MA in Law and Diplomacy from Tufts University and work as a USAID Foreign Service Officer to foster positive change in disenfranchised communities across the world.