Elia (she/her) was born and raised in the Bronx and now lives in Inwood (aka upstate Manhattan). She grew up with amazing parents who instilled in her a deep sense of commitment to their communities. This has shaped Elia’s career path: working as a program support for a homeless prevention program in the Bronx, which then led to a career as a patient advocate for family health clinics across NYC. She then joined the efforts to stop the spread of COVID-19 at the start of the pandemic, working as a NYC contact tracer. Currently, Elia is engaged in work to address digital discrimination for Centri Tech Foundation’s Spring cohort of analysts.

In 2018, Elia set out on a year-long adventure across three continents, working as a volunteer in various countries for room and board. One of her most cherished times was on an animal farm in Argentina. She fell in love with waking with the sun, milking and herding the cows, feeding the pigs and sheep, and caring for the vast array of animals that thrived on the farm. Elia has a deep love for all animals and has never been able to live down asking if she could marry her tía’s pitbull, Chato, as a child. In her free time, Elia loves to spend as much time as possible exploring the city and hanging out with her loved ones.