Mercedes Mondragón is a Policy Manager on the Illinois Policy team at Start Early, where she focuses on advocating for improvements to the child care system and alleviating issues faced by the early childhood workforce. Prior to joining Start Early, Mercedes worked as a policy advisor to Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, covering human services. She also spent time at the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless advocating for policies to facilitate re-entry for individuals with criminal records and at Illinois Action for Children where she focused on federal policy issues for working families. Mercedes holds a bachelor’s degree in Sociology and Latina/o Studies from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a Master of Public Affairs from the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin.