A Fundación Coppel Future Leaders Scholar’s Mission to Give Back
Emilia Antúnez Marchetti’s (MPP’27) path to Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy is rooted in a commitment to uplifting others.
The daughter of a Mexican Navy officer, Fundación Coppel Future Leaders Scholar Emilia Antúnez Marchetti (MPP’27), understood the meaning of public service at a young age.
“Being in the navy, my dad would leave on missions for one or two months at a time,” Antúnez recalls, “It was hard for us as a family, but he believed in the power of his service.”
Emilia Antúnez Marchetti (MPP’27)
From Mexico City to Chiapas, a region on the country’s southern border, her dad’s military service meant that the Antúnez Marchetti family moved several times across the country. Moving often meant exposure to some of the country’s most unequal regions, and even as a child, Antúnez couldn’t ignore what she saw around her.
“I couldn’t understand why I had so many opportunities while other kids my age were in the street asking for money,” says Antúnez. “Even going to the park with my parents, I’d ask, ‘Why are they selling things? Why aren’t they playing?’”
Those early questions ultimately shaped her path to study public policy.
At first, Antúnez decided to study pedagogy, aiming to one day be Mexico’s minister of education. Then, realizing she wanted a deeper understanding of how governments work, she decided to study international relations at Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México (ITAM), interested in learning more about how countries address problems like poverty and social mobility.
It was while she was pursuing her international relations degree that she discovered that beyond understanding how institutions function, designing effective solutions to help uplift communities required a comprehensive understanding of public policy and data analysis skills.
Reconnecting with the nation’s capital through public policy
Growing up, Antúnez spent a few years in Washington, DC, while her father was stationed there.
“While living in Washington, DC, with my family, I fell in love with the city,” she says. “What I found so special was the history, the architecture and the conversations always happening about policy and the world.”
Living in the city also inspired her interest in studying at Georgetown University. After earning her undergraduate degree, she spent two and a half years working across the public and private sectors in Mexico before applying to the McCourt School, attracted by its emphasis on building quantitative skills for public policy.
At McCourt, Antúnez has immersed herself in hands-on policy work through the McCourt Policy in Practice (MPIP) program, a student-led consulting initiative that partners with non-profits across Latin America, learning, as she puts it, “to understand what clients really need, which isn’t always what they first say they want”.
Emilia Antúnez Marchetti (MPP’27) with MPiP co-president Issabella Romo (MPP’26) pictured second to left, McCourt School Dean Carole Roan Gresenz third from left and alumni Zachary Kaplan (MPP’08) on the right
“MPiP is my happy place,” she says. “It’s been a space for learning through trial and error — figuring out what works, how to communicate with organizations and how to lead.”
As co-president of the student organization, Antúnez also shared that being a part of MPiP has been about community. “Many people in MPIP share similar interests in international development,” she says. “We come from all over the world. It’s a diverse and powerful community that reminds me how important a supportive work environment is.”
Emilia Antúnez Marchetti, fifth from the right, with members of MPiP student organization
She has also found community through the Mexican Student Association at Georgetown (GUGAMS), where speaking Spanish and building relationships allow her to stay connected to home.
Emilia Antúnez Marchetti (MPP’27) with members of Georgetown University’s Mexican Student Association
Antúnez additionally serves as a Fritz Fellow with Georgetown University’s Tech & Society Initiative, researching mission-driven business initiatives that aim to accelerate sustainability transitions in agri-food and biodiversity ecosystems.
Looking ahead, Antúnez plans to work in international development before eventually returning to Mexico, where she aspires to work in government or the nonprofit sector, designing solutions to the public problems she has spent a lifetime thinking about.
Being named a Fundación Coppel Scholar, she says, carries both immense gratitude and a profound sense of responsibility. It’s a feeling rooted in the values she grew up with — including the example set by her grandmother Lupita, whose hardworking spirit has been a guiding force in her life.
“I feel a sense of responsibility to do my best so that this opportunity continues for other students from Mexico,” she says.
With generous support from Fundación Coppel, the McCourt School’s Fundación Coppel Future Leaders Scholarship awards a full tuition scholarship to one student of the McCourt School of Public Policy’s full-time graduate programs, giving preference to students who graduated from a university in Mexico and demonstrate leadership skills, in addition to a commitment to public service.