Rafael L. González is a proud Spanish-American who was raised in Sevilla (Spain). After completing coursework at the University of California - Berkeley, he graduated overseas from Universidad Carlos III de Madrid with a dual bachelor’s in Law and International Relations. Outside the classroom, Gonzalez loved being a Teaching Assistant for the undergraduate Introduction to IR course, served as Congressman Thanedar's (MI-13) senior aide at the U.S. House of Representatives' Homeland Security Committee, interned at the U.S. Embassy Madrid, was a Research Assistant at UC Berkeley, worked as a paralegal in Spain for TULP Abogados SLP handling illegal cross-border marriages, and presided over the Spanish National Committee of the European Youth Parliament debate platform.

As a U.S. Department of State Rangel Fellow, Rafa dreams of serving as a Political Foreign Service Officer to inquire into the balance between migration, national security, and terrorism—focusing on Latin America. He is a native Spanish speaker, fluent in French, and studied Italian. "I chose MSFS because it is the ideal factory to calm my passion with knowledge, fuse the theory with practice, and connect my academic background to a hopeful future for others."