Meet the Candidate
López, 25, is a graduate of the Chicopee Public Schools, and native of Puerto Rico. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice from Bay Path University and a Juris Doctor from Western New England University School of Law (WNEU Law). López's deep commitment to her community and her fervent passion for social justice and women's rights led her to pursue a Juris Doctor at Western New England University School of Law where she made it her personal mission to ensure that her passion for Public Interest Law and serving her local community always remained at the forefront. During her time at the School of Law, she was Co-President of the WNEU National Lawyers’ Guild, an Associate Justice of the Judicial Advisory Board, and took part in both the Criminal Defense Practicum and in the Immigration/Legal Aid Clinic. Her civic engagement and social justice background include becoming the youngest person to serve as an intern at the Governor of Massachusetts' Western Mass. She worked at the Regional Office under the Deval Patrick’s administration at the age of 16. Subsequently, she was a Legal Assistant and Law Clerk at the Secretary of State’s Western Mass Office from 2018 to 2021. Committed to equity and social justice, López has served in a volunteer capacity on several political campaigns, as well as being the Campaign Coordinator for the Committee to Elect Anthony Soto for Holyoke Mayor, in the year 2015. At Bay Path University, she served the student body as president of the Student Government Association, Council Member of the Diversity and Inclusion Community Council, and Founding Executive Committee Member of A.L.A.N.A. Leaders. Currently, she is a Licensed Attorney in the state of Connecticut and serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the YWCA of Western Massachusetts. Recently, she was appointed to the Charter Review Commission.

Key Issues
All too often, we get trained in patience and in waiting. We wait to meet a leader who understands us or we wait for a proposal we have spent countless hours on to be approved or we wait for businesses and corporations to reprioritize their spending. But what if we didn’t wait? The following section highlights my stance on key issues that can accelerate change.
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
Deliberate inclusion initiatives can be beneficial to local governments for many reasons, including better decision-making that represents all communities and reduces the likelihood of unintentional bias and blind spots.
Transparency in Politics
It’s not enough and as continue moving through this pandemic and beyond, we need to be able to trust in our city government and know that they’ll provide useful, accessible information for everyone in Ward 3 and all of Chicopee.
Infrastructure & Public Works
We need to stop putting off necessary work in Ward 3 and Chicopee as a whole. The new bike path along the river was constructed with too little public input and residents have serious concerns that aren’t being addressed.
Small Business Development
Small businesses are the backbone of our city growth and they help us keep our community thriving and diverse. We need to make sure the City Council stands by our local businesses as they make their way through a post-COVID world.
Vaccinations & Post COVID Recovery
COVID-19 is having unprecedented economic, business, and social impacts on all industries. Local governments will need new, forward-thinking approaches for the recovery of their economies.
Essential Services & Youth Programs
Let’s keep working on strengthening city services such as snow removal, Senior Centers, and youth programming. We need to focus on finding more resources to support the work that teachers do every day.