Andrea Maria Palacio

Andrea Palacio is the Project Coordinator with the Societal Impact Group (SIG) team. She is a Tucson native and a University of Arizona alum with a degree in Business Management from Eller College of Management. She brings a variety of experiences that helped lead to her passion for advocating for diversity and equity in higher education and student services. 

Her work in student services began at Pima Community College as an academic Coach under the provisions of the Health Professions Opportunity Grant, administered by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, helping to provide education and training to low-income individuals for occupations in the healthcare field that are in high demand and provide sustainable income opportunities. From there, Andrea came to the UA as an Academic Advisor with the College of Science for the Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences major, where her advising efforts focused on creating a sense of belonging by empowering students to celebrate their unique identities and to advocate for equity in their educational needs. 

Observant of the need for diversity and the appropriate support to retain historically underrepresented students, Andrea found ways to intentionally serve her students by teaching a Student Success Course for first-year students. Taught with a proactive approach to better support the transition from high school to college, students also participated in discussions & activities that covered cultural competence, self-regulated learning, and mental health awareness. To gain a stronger foundation of knowledge to apply in her teaching and student-services approaches, Andrea completed her Master of Education in Educational Psychology in Human Relations through Northern Arizona University in 2019.