MY STORY
As a first-generation college graduate, I'm passionate about education because it changed the trajectory of my life. This is why I've devoted my career towards expanding educational equality to children who are in the shoes I was once in. |
My story begins with my parents who fled the civil war in El Salvador and immigrated to Los Angeles, California.
I first set my eyes on Pepperdine University, the 800-acre campus nestled in the Santa Monica Mountains, as a little kid when I helped my mom clean houses in the wealthy parts of Los Angeles. During the summers, we’d wake up at five in the morning to catch multiple buses to Malibu, Bel-Air and Beverly Hills — communities that felt like a world away from MacArthur Park, the low-income and immigrant enclave I grew up in. When our bus navigated the curves of the Pacific Coast Highway through Malibu, I often found myself awestruck by the campus that towered high above us, overlooking the Pacific Ocean. My dream became to go to Pepperdine. That dream, however, seemed far-fetched. While my Salvadoran immigrant parents instilled in me the value of hard work and the importance of education, we lacked access to the resources I needed to make such an elite education a reality. What’s worse, my academic preparation was underwhelming. Through the combination of hard work, guidance from my teachers, support from my parents, and some luck along the way, I eventually was able to accomplish my goal of both attending and graduating from Pepperdine University. As a first-generation college graduate, I'm passionate about education because it changed the trajectory of my life. This is why I've devoted my career towards expanding educational equality to children who are in the shoes I was once in. I'm now working to improve education in Houston as the Executive Director of Latinos for Education in Houston, an education nonprofit organization that develops and places Latino leaders in the education sector. Prior to this role, I led the Center for Social Measurement and Evaluation at Children at Risk, a statewide children’s research and advocacy organization in Texas. Previously, I served as a founding director of the Commit Partnership in Dallas, the region’s collective impact organization, where I led the flagship initiative to improve early literacy outcomes for over low-income 8,000 children. Beforehand, I worked in corporate philanthropy and as a teacher in high-need communities in New York City and in Miami as a Teach For America corps member. I'm a Harris County Leadership ISD Fellow, a Senior American Leadership Forum Fellow (Class XLVII), and a Houston Business Journal 40 under 40 honoree. I serve on the Board of Directors of several organizations making a difference in the community including TEACH and the Latino Texas PAC where I serve as Chair of the board. I hold a dual B.A. in Political Science and Religion from Pepperdine University and a Master's of Science in Education from Hunter College. |
