Fabiola Rodríguez-Ciampoli discovered her residence in Congress with Rep. Jesús “Chuy” García (D-Sick.), a fellow Mexican immigrant.
Rodríguez-Ciampoli already had a distinguished legislative workers profession earlier than becoming a member of García’s crew, growing Hispanic messaging for then-Minority Chief Dick Gephardt (D-Mo.) and later for former Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.). She additionally served as communications director for then-Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-Calif.), and as govt director of the Home Democratic Caucus.
Rodríguez-Ciampoli has additionally ventured off campus, working Hispanic communications for John Kerry’s presidential marketing campaign in 2004 and Hillary Clinton in 2016, and spending three years in a high Western Hemisphere place on the State Division.
“How well did I know [García]? I’d never met him in person. I — again, I knew of him, I read about him when he ran for mayor. The first time, the very first time I met him was the day he interviewed me for the job, and we clicked,” Rodríguez-Ciampoli mentioned.
Rodríguez-Ciampoli’s first political job was distant from the Capitol — she labored in communications for former Mexican President Carlos Salinas de Gortari.
After that gig, Rodríguez-Ciampoli enrolled in graduate faculty at American College, the place she met her husband and determined to immigrate to the USA.
Rodríguez-Ciampoli developed roots in Washington, turning into a chief architect of contemporary Hispanic political communication and mentoring youthful colleagues, however by no means leaving her native Mexico absolutely behind.
“I’ll have to use a phrase that my boss also likes to use. Another thing we have in common. There is a song by Los Tigres del Norte that says, ‘Sí se puede tener el corazón en dos lugares,’ something like that. You know, I’ll find you the phrase exactly. So my home is both the United States and Mexico,” she mentioned.
The precise line from “Mis dos patrias” by Los Tigres del Norte: “Two homelands fit in the same heart.”
