Rich Lopez currently serves as Director of Federal Government Affairs for the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers whose membership is comprised of over 85 percent of the world’s automakers who have a presence in the United States.  In his role at the Alliance, Rich works with the Hispanic community on issues of concern to the auto industry, formulates coalitions with Hispanic groups that hold similar auto related interests and helps organize Hispanic representatives from each of the auto companies to discuss issues of concern to the community and where the industry can be of assistance.
Prior to being recruited by the Alliance, Rich was Executive Director of Legislative Affairs at the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU) where he helped promote Latino issues such as the DREAM Act and the Latino Museum to Senators, Members of Congress and their staff.  He also worked with Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs) to help them navigate Congress and department reauthorization bills to expand research and development grants to HSIs whose main focus was on specific sectors of the economy that lacked Hispanic representation.  Rich also spent many years on Capitol Hill as the Executive Director of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus’s political arm, BOLD PAC, and as Senior Legislative Assistant / Deputy Floor Director for Congressman Joe Baca.  He also spent several years working for Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid, both on his re-election campaign in Nevada and in his Washington DC office as Director of Advance and Legislative Correspondent.

Rich has remained active in Hispanic politics and continues to provide support to both the community as well as to candidates seeking both federal and state office.  He sees the next generation of Latinos as the future of the country and has been a mentor to Hispanic staff through the CHSA mentor/mentee program and through social activities both on and off the Hill.  As a HLA founding board member and recently re-elected board member, Rich would like to continue his efforts to assist the community and those that are looking to rise in the political realm as Congressional staff, corporate professional and/or an elected official.

Rich is a native Texan that has spent the last 12 years working in DC with a short stint in Austin at the Texas Legislature, where he got his political start as a Senate Messenger over 15 years ago.  He has two older brothers and spends his time traveling around the world learning about the vastly different communities and cultures each country provides.  He loves DC and often calls it his adopted home and has no plans of leaving anytime soon.