Undergraduate Young Trustee finalist Gabriela Pereda hopes to bring together her deep understanding of the Duke community and her strong foundation in finance to help the Board of Trustees navigate today’s political climate, build community and advocate for transparency.
A senior from Cincinnati, Ohio, Pereda is majoring in computer science and economics with a minor in French. She credits her family’s Venezuelan roots for shaping her perspectives and inspiring her early involvement in nonprofit work during high school.
After transitioning to Duke from a medium-sized public high school, Pereda struggled at first to define her identity. She eventually reimagined how she could make an impact — by mentoring others and building community to help her peers get “everything they can out of Duke.”
“My experiences are based on a lot of commitments to equity, diversity and representation. I've had a lot of global exposure with my background, my study abroad experiences, professionalism and strategic planning from my internships,” Pereda said. “It gives me a really good foundation to make the decisions for Duke that are going to not only continue our path of excellence, but also the opportunities we offer, the inclusion that we offer, and growth and innovation.”
One of her biggest projects, Humans of Duke, showcases stories from across the Duke community including students, administrators, housekeepers, faculty and staff. Pereda started the project as a first-year student, conducting interviews about individuals’ upbringings, aspirations and perspectives. Interacting with people from many different communities helped her realize that “Duke is Duke because of its people” and gave her a “holistic perspective of the University,” which she seeks to leverage as a Young Trustee.
Pereda is an Alice M. Baldwin Scholar, which has allowed her to form connections with people she would likely not have met otherwise. Colleen Scott, the program’s director, said scholars are selected for their self-awareness and commitment to driving change, noting that Pereda “takes the time to get to know other people and invest in her relationships.”
Through her involvement in Duke Latinx Business Organization and her work as a teaching assistant, Pereda mentored fellow students, something she wants to continue pushing for. She worked as a teaching assistant for two core economics courses taught by Professor of Economics Thomas Nechyba.
“So often the students would just tell me how extraordinary she was and how influential she was, helping them make the transition, not just within the class, but at Duke,” Nechyba said.
If selected as a Young Trustee, Pereda would join the board at a time when the Trump administration is reshaping higher education.
Institutional transparency is a key priority for Pereda. If selected, she would push for Duke to be more open about how it plans to navigate threats to higher education, believing this is essential to prevent students from feeling at odds with administrators.
“We're on the same side of these issues, and to do that, we have to all be on the same page of what's happening,” she said.
She also emphasized the need for greater transparency when making administrative decisions, such as tuition increases or major residential life changes like QuadEx. Making these decisions more of a “conversation” with students, she argued, would help bridge the disconnect between students and University leadership.
Pereda would also like for Duke to take a stronger stand on issues impacting the institution.
“If you're looking at something like [cuts to National Institutes of Health] funding, it has a direct negative impact on society — it's undisputable,” Pereda said. “I would be really proud to be part of an institution that's at the front [of advocating against it].”
Beyond navigating the political climate, Pereda views artificial intelligence as a tool transforming the job market and believes students should learn to use it in the right ways. She noted that mastering AI integration and instruction would allow Duke to “really stand out.”
Nechyba believes one of Pereda’s greatest assets is her ability to adapt her worldview when exposed to new ideas.
“Even things that she held very dearly, she allowed herself to challenge them and be open to another way of looking at things,” he said.
Pereda and her older brother Luis Pereda, Pratt ‘23, were the first in their family to pursue an undergraduate education in the U.S.
“We're constantly in awe of the doors that higher [education] opens,” she said. “It's really exciting to think about potentially being able to give back on another level.”
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Ana Despa is a Pratt sophomore and an associate news editor for the news department.