Michelle Zelaya has joined our staff as the Maryland Catholic Conference associate director for social and economic justice.
Michelle got to know the Conference as an intern in 2023. She gained experience with testimony, learning the legislative process and other areas.
A first-generation college student, she received a bachelor of liberal arts in philosophy, politics and economics, and a B.S. in cybersecurity from Mount St. Mary’s in Emmitsburg, Md. She was involved with Women in Law, club soccer, the Student Organization of Latinos and other programs.
She also took advantage of unique opportunities. Recently, she represented her school at a missionary retreat in Chicago that focused on the dignity of life, including issues related to imprisonment.
In 2024, she received a competitive Civitas Dei Summer Fellowship, cosponsored by the Institute for Human Ecology at The Catholic University of America and the Thomistic Institute at the Dominican House of Studies, to study the topic “Can War Be Just?”
She is a member of St. Mark in Hyattsville.
Her focus areas will include dignity of work, healthcare, immigration, poverty, public safety and racial justice.