2020-21 Student Delegate
Elaina Pevide ’20
Elaina Pevide is a recent graduate of Brandeis University, where she built her own major in public policy while pursuing a second major in psychology and a minor in economics. Upon graduation, she returned to her hometown of Fall River, Massachusetts, where she now works as the special projects and media coordinator to the city's mayor.
Last fall, Pevide began her work with ENACT as an ENACT Labor Network student fellow, where she got an immersive education in labor policy. She was able to interact with experts from around the country and with a small cohort of other ENACT students passionate about labor issues.
With the ENACT Labor Network, Pevide began her research and advocacy on the Fair Work Week bill well before enrolling in the Enact Advocacy for Policy Change course in the spring. This work inspired her to focus her senior capstone research project on the implications of labor policy on economic outcomes for low-income women and women of color.
Besides her work with ENACT, Pevide is involved with Brandeis' Women's Studies Research Center; volunteers with Massachusetts Jobs with Justice, which led the coalition for Fair Work Week legislation; and served as editorial assistant to ENACT Assistant Director David Weinstein in preparing Brandeis' 2020 ENACT Anthology.
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the rise of virtual learning, Pevide believes that the ENACT network has never been so important. As this year's ENACT delegate, she hopes to provide opportunities for collaboration and connection between students and faculty across the country.