Wyoming native Rey Fuentes graduated from the University of Wyoming in 2010 with his bachelor’s degree in political science and a host of prestigious awards and scholarships, including the Marshall Scholarship, Truman Scholarship and USA Today’s All- USA College Academic First Team honors. Where is Fuentes now?
Photo by Nicole Anderson
Studying abroad: “It was an incredible experience to be abroad for two years in a country I hadn’t visited before,” Fuentes, a native of Evanston, says of his time in London, where he met his wife while earning his master’s degree in comparative politics from the London School of Economics and Political Science. He then studied history at University of Cambridge.
Making a difference at home: Recipients of the Truman Scholarship are committed to public service leadership, and Fuentes has lived up to this expectation, returning to the United States to work for the California-based nonprofit Next Generation. “I was there about two years and had some incredible opportunities, including working on legislation to establish a sick leave guarantee for every private sector employee in the state. California is only the second state in the nation to pass such a law. It was very exciting.”
In January 2015, Fuentes made the move to Palantir in Palo Alto, Calif. “Palantir is a software company that focuses deeply on data integration and surfacing insight from data. We’re entering a relatively uncharted space in social intervention financing with social impact bonds. It’s a form of social financing where private upfront capital is used to pay for social interventions that nonprofit service providers deliver. If they’re successful, then the government pays the investors back with interest. If they fail, then the government pays nothing. It’s a way of rapidly scaling social interventions with no financial risk to the government.”
Plans for the future: Fuentes was recently accepted to Berkeley Law and plans to defer enrollment while he finishes projects at Palantir. “I became deeply interested in employment law at Next Generation and learned more about family leave and childcare—the elements that make families stable\ and strong. I’d love to explore these issues along with social impact bonds while at law school.”
Fuentes says UW provided an excellent foundation for the successes and challenges of graduate school and his career: “UW allowed me to be an active participant in my own education.” He encourages future students to be proactive in their education at UW.
“UW is small enough that it’s easy to get the mentorship you need,” Fuentes says, recalling his relationship with Associate Professor Susanna Goodin from the Department of Philosophy and Associate Professor Stephanie Anderson from the Department of Political Science. “That was crucial to being successful along the way.”
