Marysol Fernández Harvey

Marysol Fernández Harvey is a Ph.D. student in Government and Social Policy at Harvard University. Her research examines organizing and collective action as means for building durable civic power. She is particularly interested in how locally embedded, broadly networked grassroots organizations translate diffuse grievances into collective political power and condition how governments respond to the adverse effects of rising economic inequality and wealth concentration. In ongoing research, she explores how grassroots, organized civic power can rebuild redistributive coalitions from below by transforming economic discontent into durable electoral coalitions. Marysol is also an affiliate of the Center for American Political Studies and the Institute of Quantitative Social Science. 

Prior to beginning graduate school, Marysol worked as a Research and Organizing Fellow at the Horizons Project, where she supported peacebuilders, organizers, activists, and civic leaders working to advance a just, inclusive, multiracial democracy. She also worked as a Consultant at TCC Group, partnering with philanthropic leaders and community-based organizations to strengthen funding and capacity-building infrastructure for organizations pursuing lasting systems change. Her research questions are deeply informed by this practitioner experience. Marysol was born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and has strong ties to New York City. She received her B.A. in Economics and Comparative Literature from Brown University and was named a Truman Scholar in 2020.