Senator Ada Álvarez Conde

Ada Álvarez Conde was born on September 8, 1986. She holds two doctorates, one in the History of Puerto Rico and the Caribbean from the Center for Advanced Studies and another in Christian Neurotheology. She studied at the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus, earning a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism, and holds a Master of Science in Communications from Florida International University. She has been educating for peace since 2006. In 2006, she became the youngest novelist in Puerto Rico with her book, “Lo que no dije, sobre violencia” (What I Didn’t Say, About Violence). That same year, she was selected for the Córdova and Fernós Internship, where she worked with Nancy Pelosi and developed a passion for public policy. Before becoming a Senator—this being her first term—she had already drafted laws on this subject that were subsequently approved. She was a pioneer in developing school orientation programs on this topic in Puerto Rico, and her work has made her a global specialist and expert in the field. Her community work earned her her first Sor Isolina Ferré award in 2007, and in 2015 she was recognized in the United States (Women E News and Somos in New York). She received an international award from the JCI in Japan as one of the ten outstanding young persons of the world in 2015. She has represented Puerto Rico at conferences in Thailand, Mexico, Colombia, and the Dominican Republic. She created the Promotores de Paz (Promoters of Peace) program, and in 2019, she coordinated 100 volunteers to give talks in every municipality of Puerto Rico, impacting 14,769 young people in one month. This effort followed her drafting and presentation of what became Law 89-2015, which designated February as “Teen Dating Violence Prevention and Awareness Month.” Her past professional roles include: reporter for Telemundo Nacional and editor at Washington Hispanic; Communications Specialist for the Pan American Health Organization in Washington, D.C.; Translator for the Federal Department of Veterans Affairs; undergraduate professor at Universidad del Sagrado Corazón and Universidad Ana G. Méndez; graduate professor at the Center for Advanced Studies on Puerto Rico and the Caribbean; instructor at the Police Academy; and two-time Director of the Senate Women’s Affairs Committee. She has been a licensed chaplain since 2019 and currently serves as co-leader of the Mental Health Ministry at Sendero de la Cruz Church and practices chaplaincy at the Casa Protegida Julia de Burgos shelter. In 2008, she published the poetry collection “Mudanza Constante,” and 15 years later, in 2024, she published her third book, “Corazón Abierto” (Open Heart), a comprehensive autobiography and testimony that includes her history as a patient with a congenital heart condition called Tetralogy of Fallot; as a result, she has undergone open-heart surgery three times.