DR. JOHN R. HUBBARD AWARD FINALIST

Rianna Rios is a first-generation college student from Montebello, CA. Before transferring to USC, she spent a year volunteering as an English and Math teacher in India and Vietnam, as well as studying Spanish Language and Literature curriculum in Spain. She chose the combination of policy and the arts to highlight the importance of the “in-between” stories that have not been acknowledged in today’s policies. She opted to pursue the law track in the public policy program and a minor in Performing Social Change. Through this, she explored how a performance advocates, represents, and empowers the voices of an audience. Throughout her academic career, she has taught activism theater in middle schools and researched how community performing arts projects cultivate inclusiveness in the policy areas of economic development, civic engagement, and education.

At USC, Rianna has been involved in Undergraduate Student Government serving as the Director of the Performing Arts Committee and as the Senior Executive Aid for Labor Relations. She has also been awarded a grant with the USC Arts and Climate Collective, where she focuses on projects that intersect art and activism. As a Shaeffer Fellow in government service, she interned at the LA City Council, where she worked on legislation regarding layered issues of homelessness, Angeleno identity, and accessibility to the sustainable development of the city. By having a nexus of creativity and theoretical practice in policymaking, she hopes to collectively lead with a more empathetic and realistic framework.

As the Chair of the Anti-Racism and Equity Chair in the Norman Topping Student Governing Board, she has been able to actively engage in dialogues about diversity in higher education and express student needs. She has developed a deep awareness of her various identities, especially coming into her Latine identity. She navigates between opportunity and limitation, representation, and invisibility. She credits her growth to her first teachers —her family members, particularly generations of resilient and resourceful women.

Rianna is a Semi-Finalist for Mexico Fulbright ETA and hopes to continue working in local policy, advocating for the rights and opportunities of Latine communities.