Proud of his Jewish Mexican roots, Rey López-Calderón has devoted his life to strengthening the communities he serves. His journey in activism began as a volunteer youth organizer with the United Farm Workers in Orange County and has since taken him to leadership and organizational development roles across the country. Rey has founded several community organizations in the Chicago area and served in senior positions at Common Cause, including executive director roles in California and Illinois and vice president for development in Washington, D.C., where he helped expand the organization’s national fundraising capacity. Today, he works as a fundraising and organizational development consultant, bringing decades of experience in organizing, governance, and resource-building to mission-driven organizations.

Rey studied philosophy at the University of Chicago and earned his law degree from DePaul College of Law. He serves on the board of the California Ranked Choice Voting Institute and on advisory boards focused on democratic reform and local policy innovation. Rey now calls the San Diego–Tijuana region home, where he is active in his synagogue community and enjoys life with his husband and their two spirited toy fox terriers.