Andrés Cano

MC/MPA 2024
Roy and Lila Ash Scholarship in Democracy Recipient

Headshot of Andres Cano

Andrés Cano is currently pursuing his Master in Public Administration at the Harvard Kennedy School. He is the former Democratic Leader in the Arizona House of Representatives, where he represented District 20 (Tucson) from 2019 to 2023. Throughout his tenure in the State House, Leader Cano served on the House Committee on Ways & Means, and was the Ranking Member on the House Committee on Natural Resources, Energy, & Water.

​From 2020 to 2023, Andrés was also the Director of the LGBTQ+ Alliance Fund, a philanthropic initiative of the Community Foundation for Southern Arizona. In this role, Andrés, 31, cultivated major individual and corporate gifts to support the Fund’s annual grant-making​ and permanent endowment.

Raised by a single mom, Andrés is a first-generation college graduate. He received his B.A. in Broadcast Journalism from the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University in 2014.

Prior to elected office, Andrés served as a senior aide to the Chairman of the Pima County Board of Supervisors, Richard Elías, from 2012 to 2018. In this role, Andrés prioritized policy efforts to advance juvenile justice reform, improve public health, and boost neighborhood infrastructure.

Andrés’ extensive community engagement has been recognized by Equality Arizona (2015, Emerging Leader,) the Center for the Future of Arizona (2016, Emerging Leader,) the Tucson Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (2017, 40 Under 40,) the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute (2020, Young Alumnus Award,) and the League of Arizona Cities and Towns (2022, Champion.)

Andrés will complete his graduate studies at Harvard in May 2024, when he plans to pursue his next chapter in public service.