Alfredo Trejo III (he/him/él) is a queer scholar and artist, born and raised in Los Ángeles, with roots in El Salvador and México. He is currently a Ph.D. Candidate in Political Science at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

His research and teaching interests are in International Political Economy (IPE), exploring the relationship between activists, domestic politics, and international relations. His dissertation seeks to measure the impact of public demonstrations against trade agreements in Latin America, with a focus on Central America. Additionally, Alfredo studies the causes and consequences of migration, democratic backsliding, and the intersection between law, sexuality, and disease.

Alfredo is a first generation college student and holds an MS in Public Policy and Management from Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) and a BA in Political Science from UCLA. His research interests began when he was a community college student at East Los Angeles College (ELAC). While a student at CMU, Alfredo was the Urban Policy Fellow for the Allegheny County Conservation District and a research assistant for California State University Employees Union. Before graduate school, Alfredo worked with SEIU-United Serivce Workers West.

Alfredo has been thriving with HIV for over a decade, sharing his story and advocating for the rights of people living with HIV. He has worked with organizations like Positive Women’s Network-US and HIV Justice World Wide. Additionally, Alfredo and his friends have helped raise nearly $500,000 for HIV treatment and prevention in Los Ángeles by participating in AIDS/LifeCycle, a 7-day, 545-mile bike ride from San Francisco to Los Ángeles.

Alfredo is an award winning film maker, and his debut film, Pedaling with Purpose, has been screened up and down California, at New York’s LGBT Community Center, and across the country thanks to the City University of New York (CUNY) and their CUNY TV Presents Series. He is also a Lambda Literary Emerging LGBTQ Voice Fellow, and is an alumna of Tin House and Write It Out!