Sonya Schwartz

Sonya has spent more than twenty years advocating to improve access to health care and reduce poverty. As part of her current work as a public policy consultant, Sonya collaborates with organizations working to improve access to public benefit programs; protect children and immigrants’ rights; and modernize voter registration systems.

Sonya leads issue advocacy campaigns; develops and implements advocacy strategy; organizes diverse stakeholders and finds areas of agreement; and builds coalitions and facilitates partnerships. Sonya also advises clients on approach to policy and program changes, analyzes federal and state laws and policies; identifies experts; scans and evaluates policy environments; and conducts qualitative policy research. Sonya holds strong relationships in the progressive advocacy community and government at the federal and state level.

Sonya’s clients have included the National Immigration Law Center, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, The Children’s Partnership, Children’s Defense Fund-NY, Kaiser Family Foundation, Center for Secure and Modern Elections, Colorado Center for Health Progress, and California Planned Parenthood Education Fund.

Sonya most recently worked as Co-Chair of the Protecting Immigrant Families Campaign, and as a Senior Policy Attorney at the National Immigration Law Center. Sonya has served as a Research Fellow and Faculty Member at Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy; a Program Director at the National Academy for State Health Policy (NASHP); and worked at Families USA and the Food Research &; Action Center early in her career. Sonya holds a JD from the UCLA School of Law Program in Public Interest Law and Policy, and a BA in political science and Italian from Middlebury College.