Rising Stars: Mauricio Torres

When you meet Mauricio Torres Jr., his calm confidence and ability to make people feel heard are immediately clear. It’s a combination that’s helped him rise from associate all the way to communications director at the California Budget & Policy Center. Whether he’s deciphering complex policy language or hiking renowned trails like the Inca Trail or the W Trek in Patagonia, Torres approaches it all with confidence, curiosity and a deep connection to the communities he serves.

At just 27, Torres has garnered the trust and respect of the Capitol community, leading a team in carrying out the center’s mission of values-driven, community-centered research and analysis to impact policy.

With a smile, Nikki Paschal, a former colleague from Paschal Roth Public Affairs, said of Torres, “I’m 100 percent sure, even though he’s half my age, he’s going to be my boss one day.”

Torres grew up in Lathrop, a small town of about 10,000 people at the time—he remembers how exciting it was when the first Target opened. The oldest of four boys and the first in his family to graduate from college, he draws strength from his Mexican roots, which continue to shape his values and drive. As much as he appreciated the small-town vibe he grew up with, he felt pulled toward Sacramento’s bigger energy when it came time to pick a college.

His confidence was on full display when, as a teen, he brought his parents paperwork for on-campus housing at Sacramento State and told them, “Just sign here.” That self-assuredness only wavered slightly when he attended orientation for his declared major in engineering. It quickly became clear that this wasn’t the right fit for him, despite the fun times he had with CAD in high school.

As he was exploring his major options, Donald Trump launched his 2016 presidential campaign by targeting Mexican immigrants, compelling Torres to act through this education. It became the catalyst for his full plunge into political science.

“I knew I was interested. But, I mean, the first campaign, he was calling out Mexicans in particular…so that really felt personal. And I was like, ‘OK,’ I want to do something about it,” Torres said.

On a whim, as a freshman, he applied for an internship at the nonprofit Trust for Public Land and soon found himself immersed in the world of environmental lobbying. There, he gained a firsthand understanding of how interest groups operate and the complexity of policymaking. At just 18, he even led lobbying visits, speaking directly with lawmakers and their staff about funding priorities.

I’m 100 percent sure, even though he’s half my age, he’s going to be my boss one day.

Still, he wasn’t sure how to turn communications into a serious career path. That all changed when he landed a communications internship at the Speaker’s Press Office in 2017. There, he says he saw the blend of his two majors in action, and it just “clicked” that political science and communications were the right path to make a real impact.

While still in college, Torres worked as a campaign coordinator for Paschal Roth Public Affairs, where he says he truly learned how politics work and how best to implement policy changes. Paschal, who met him in 2018 while he volunteered at a state Democratic Party convention, knew right away she wanted him on her team.

“[He’s] super phenomenally smart, and, you know, super organized and on top of everything,” Paschal says while laughing. “I mean, he’s one of those people where he’s, like, literally, I think half my age, and I’m kind of looking on with envy. Like, how does this guy have his life together at this age?”

After graduating from Sacramento State in 2018 with a double major in political science and communications, Torres stayed on at Paschal Roth. There, he helped shed light on community issues, including a project with the Center for Workers’ Rights, which involved a Davis restaurant worker who was fired for speaking Spanish at work. Paschal recalls that Torres eagerly took the lead in highlighting the story.

The commitment to elevating underrepresented voices stayed with Torres as he navigated the challenges of the pandemic. He used the time to return to school and pursue a master’s degree in strategic communications and public relations, so he could further his skills as a communications strategist at the California Budget & Policy Center, where he started working in 2019.

When he stepped into the role of communications director in 2023, he focused on transforming complex budget and policy analysis into clear, digestible information that effectively conveyed the center’s mission and recommendations. Often the youngest in the room, Torres said it was a challenge to find the confidence to stick to his vision for how the team could communicate their message more effectively, but he never shied away from it.

“So I definitely brought a different perspective, both from our work policy, culture development, to again, the language, making sure we’re being explicit and real in what we’re saying,” Torres said. “So it was challenging, but it was a lot of fun.”

He credits his mentor, Sarah Jimenez, his predecessor at the center, for helping him develop leadership skills. Jimenez trusted him completely, often assigning major projects without hesitation. One of his biggest projects was revamping the center’s website.

“That project was incredibly successful at the end, but it took a lot of planning and it took a lot of leadership,” Jimenez said. “[He] was making recommendations that were sometimes hard for staff to accept, but Mauricio delivered that information in a very kind, clear way that ultimately people got on board and believed in what he was saying and why it was important.”

Torres’ confidence also shines through in his approach to travel. While some joke that it could be a generational thing, Torres prioritizes trips that offer “cultural exchange” as a way to balance the high-stress demands of his role. And when he travels, he fully commits, spending extended periods in places like Peru, Colombia, Lima and Chile.

Of all his travels, he says Peru stands out, recalling the food and his time hiking the “breathtaking” Inca Trail, a multi-day hike that left him feeling rewarded as he disconnected from the digital world.

After coming out in 2019, Torres found the community he was searching for at the Lavender Library, Archives, and Cultural Exchange (LLACE). The memoirs by queer Latin authors helped him feel seen, and he says that as activism grew in response to the 2020 political scene, he wanted to give back to the space that meant so much to him.

For the past three years, he has served on the board as Vice President for LLACE, helping secure a grant from then-Assemblymember Kevin McCarty, which has taught him about the inner workings of a state grant—something he finds a privilege to do for his community.

“I just really love the community. I really love the space that it creates. You know, we work really hard to make sure it’s a free and accessible LGBTQ+ space,” Torres said. “I think especially in this political context, like, we’ve always been here. We’ve always found a way to exist. So it’s beautiful to be able to work to preserve that history.”