Lorena is from Quito, Ecuador. Lorena first came to the U.S. in 2003 as a foreign-exchange student in a small Alabama town.  Lorena obtained her bachelor's degree in International Studies with a concentration in Latin America from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She is currently pursuing a Communication Management Master's degree also at UAB.  Lorena began working for ¡HICA! in 2008 as a case manager. Her role at ¡HICA! has expanded to  include financial literacy education.  In her free time, Lorena likes hanging out with friends, spontaneously traveling, singing karaoke, and talking to her family on Skype.