Viviana López-Green

Viviana López Green is the Senior Director of the Latino Knowledge Lab at UnidosUS, where she leads innovative, unique research to document and elevate awareness of both the foundational and evolving contributions of Latinos to America’s story.  In collaboration with cultural, academia, media and policy partners and practitioners, the Lab is transforming how Latinos are understood and represented in public policy solutions.  

Under her leadership, the Latino Knowledge Lab operates as an innovation engine and knowledge ecosystem that documents history, generates original research and co-creates tools with educators, practitioners, cultural institutions, the media and policy partners  The Lab’s interdisciplinary work spans high school lesson plans and seminars with the Gilder Lehrman Institute; narrative research with the Berkeley Media Studies Group; wealth‑gap analysis with UCLA; and cultural exhibitions with the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Latino.

Viviana has co-authored the position paper “Toward a More Perfect Union: Understanding Systemic Racism and Resulting Inequity in Latino Communities” and moderated the virtual town hall, “Understanding Systemic Racism & Resulting Inequity in Latino Communities.” Her efforts focus on documenting and educating the general public on how Hispanics are adversely affected by structural inequities, and on executing a narrative change campaign to ensure Latino perspectives and contributions are recognized through communications campaigns centered around events, alliances and publications. 

She co-authored the report “Analyzing Inclusion of Latino Contributions in U.S. History Curricula for High School” with the Johns Hopkins Institute for Education Policy, which explores the lack of Latino representation in select U.S. history textbooks. With the Berkeley Media Studies Group, Viviana developed a report focused on “Elevating Latino Experiences and Voices in News about Racial Equity,” which includes both findings and recommendations for improving coverage. She also prepared the 2021 report, “Special Advance Fact Sheet: Deaths of People of Color by Law Enforcement Are Severely Under-Counted.” She also served as the UnidosUS the liaison to the Smithsonian Latino Center in curating content for Molina Family Latino Gallery, the first permanent exhibit on the National Mall celebrating the U.S. Latino experience, including creating an in-gallery digital media element titled, “Mapping the U.S. Latino Experience.”  

Previously, from 2011-2020, she served as senior director of Affiliate engagement at UnidosUS, where she managed relationships with nearly 300 community-based organizations. She worked closely with UnidosUS’s policy and program staff to provide non-profit management capacity building and to implement state and local strategies. She also helped connect corporate and foundation partners in their work with local Latino communities. 

She holds a master’s in international laws from Georgetown University Law Center and a law degree from the University of the Andes. She is a member of the New York Bar Association. She is a Board Member of the Partnership for a Healthier America and is active in community service in the Washington, D.C., area, including Mary’s Center and the Salvation Army’s Grate Patrol.