Karol Marcela Escalante

Karol Marcela Escalante is Fairfax County's Director of Immigrant Community Affairs. She is part of the One Fairfax team and has more than 15 years of experience working with key topics related to immigration, community engagement, public policy, diversity, inclusion, and strategic planning.

Escalante is currently developing and implementing a comprehensive, countywide plan for ensuring that Fairfax County is a welcoming community for immigrants with opportunities for integration, community well-being, and economic success.

She served as a diplomat in the Foreign Service of Honduras for approximately 8 years, being her last post in Chicago, IL as Consul General of Honduras. During that time, she worked daily supporting the Honduran community and developed new strategies to be able to create programs that would have a positive impact on Hondurans in areas like immigration, human and labor rights, education, financial literacy, etc.

Ms. Escalante has an MA in strategic communication from George Mason University, an MFA in Media Design Management from the International Academy of Design and Technology of Tampa, and a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the National Autonomous University of Honduras (UNAH).

Karol was born in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, is married, and is the proud mother of a 6-year-old girl. She is a native Spanish speaker and is a Fairfax County resident.