Karen Arlette Gamez Lopez is passionate about education, social justice, and public policy/politics. She hopes to make higher education a reality, by making college more accessible, and by placing equal importance in making students feel protected, supported, and valued, once they are on campus.

She was born in Culiacan, Sinaloa, Mexico, and was brought to the US at the age of three. Karen graduated from Kent-Meridian High School in Kent with a High School diploma and an International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma. She obtained her Associates in Arts from Green River College, and is currently studying at the University of Washington, in hopes of majoring in American Ethnic Studies, and double minoring in Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies, and Education, Learning, and Society. She aspires to foster diversity and achieve racial equity across the country by directly influencing legislation.