Biography
Rayan Semery-Palumbo grew up poor and homeless in Arizona and was the first in his family to go to college. At Yale, he co-chaired Yale's first 1vyG conference for first-generation college students, worked with first-generation alumni to provide internship and mentoring opportunities, and led student efforts that helped create Yale's Domestic Summer Award. He received a Yale Jefferson Award for public service in 2018. At Oxford, as a Rhodes Scholar, he earned an MPhil in Politics (Comparative Government) and a DPhil in Public Policy. He speaks to high school students and mentors first-generation students applying to college and to scholarships like the Rhodes.
Today he works with service workers to end subminimum wages and make the minimum wage a living wage. With One Fair Wage, he helps lead the Living Wage For All campaign. At the Economic Security Project, he wrote Recovering Wages and Wealth, and he co-leads Workers First AI, working with rideshare drivers on how robotaxis may change their work, pay, and hours. He is co-author of What Has Democracy Done For You Lately? (The New Press, 2026) and writes American Dreams & Nightmares at rayansemerypalumbo.com.