Ylenia Aguilar

Public Affairs Strategist - Lobbyist - Civic Leader

When you work with Ylenia, you're not hiring a lobbyist who learned your issues from a briefing book. You're partnering with someone who has sat at the table, stood at the podium, knocked on the doors, and cast the votes.

I am Rooted in lived experience

I am Rooted in lived experience

Ylenia Aguilar is an Arizona-based public affairs strategist, community advocate, and civic leader whose work is rooted in something deeply personal — a lifetime of firsthand experience with the issues she fights for every day.

A proud mother of two boys, and a woman who has navigated this state's systems as an immigrant, a parent, and a community member, Ylenia doesn't just understand the challenges facig Arizona families — she has lived them. She has sat in the waiting rooms, attended the school board meetings, read the utility bills, and breathed the air. That lived experience is the foundation of everything she does, and it is what makes her advocacy fierce, authentic, and effective.

"I advocate fiercely for our communities because these are my communities. The stakes are not abstract to me — they are personal."

Over more than two decades, Ylenia has built a career at the intersection of water access, public health, and education equity — always centering the voices of those most impacted and always showing up with integrity. Her clients and partners know her as someone who does what she says, builds coalitions that last, and never loses sight of why the work matters.

As the first Latina elected to her local school board and the first Latina elected county-wide to the Central Arizona Project (CAP) Board, Ylenia has broken barriers while building the government relationships and regulatory knowledge that make her an invaluable advocate for clients navigating Arizona's complex policy landscape.

As Business Development Manager for SOURCE Global in Arizona, Ylenia worked with rural, tribal, and school communities to deliver clean drinking water through renewable technology. She helped secure $7.5 million in state funding for tribal, rural, and colonia communities — including unincorporated areas along the US-Mexico border — ultimately reaching more than 3,400 people who had no other option.

A native Spanish speaker with deep roots in Veracruz, México, Ylenia brings a bilingual, bicultural lens to every engagement. Her work has been featured by the Arizona Republic, Univision Arizona, Arizona Mirror, Conecta Arizona, and Prensa Arizona.

What We Do

Services built from experience, not theory

01

Government Relations & Lobbying

State legislature, Arizona Corporation Commission, and regulatory agency engagement on energy, environment, water, and public health policy. Ylenia's elected board experience and agency relationships open doors that take most advocates years to access.

02

Campaign Management

End-to-end campaign strategy and execution — from voter outreach and coalition activation to bilingual communications, earned media, and public testimony pipelines. Built for candidates and issue campaigns alike.

03

Community & Cultural Engagement

Culturally competent outreach strategies for Latino/a and underrepresented communities. Bilingual communications, materials, and facilitation. Ylenia doesn't translate your message — she helps you build one that resonates from the inside out.

04

Coalition Building

Stakeholder mapping, cross-sector alliance development, and multi-organizational coordination. Ylenia has built coalitions spanning elected officials, businesses, nonprofits, health professionals, tribal leaders, and community members — and kept them together when it counted.

05

Strategic Communications

Messaging development, public comment campaigns, earned media strategy, and bilingual content. Whether you need a press release or a public testimony pipeline, Ylenia builds communications that move people to action.

06

Public Affairs Consulting

Facilitated roundtables, community forums, public testimony preparation, and stakeholder convenings. Ylenia designs and executes engagements that build genuine public support — not just manage appearances.

Work With Us