Chicano Organizing & Research in Education   

Miguel Cordova, has over 17 years of experience working in the areas of education and policy. Currently he works as an education programs consultant for the California Department of Education (CDE) where his primary area of work revolves around educational policies and practices that will help close the academic achievement gap. He has worked with K-12 programs in the areas of gifted and talented, reading, adoption of instructional materials as well as test development and administration of statewide testing programs.

Prior to his work at the CDE, Miguel served as an Assistant Dean of Admissions and a Pre-College Coordinator at Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota. He recruited students, developed recruitment strategies and travel, coordinated pre-college programs, worked on retention issues and developed and oversaw summer residential programs. He has worked with students from various cultural, socio-economic, and language backgrounds. Miguel has worked with a wide range of schools including small, rural, suburban, and inner city. Born and raised in Salinas, California, he now lives in Sacramento. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science and a Master's degree in Public Policy and Administration.

Maritza Del Razo received her  Associate of Arts (A.A.) degree in general education from Modesto Jr. College, a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree in Ethnic Studies from the University of California at Berkeley and a Masters in Education (M.Ed.) with an emphasis in student affairs from the University of California at Los Angeles. She has utilized her degrees in various settings over the last twelve years. Currently Maritza is a Research and Administrative Associate for the University of California All Campus Consortium on Research for Diversity (UC/ACCORD) housed at the University of California at Los Angeles. She assists on research looking at the postsecondary pathways of students from low-income communities.

Maritza is originally from the Central Valley and moved to Los Angeles in 1999 shortly after completing her studies in the Bay Area. There she worked for the YMCA of Greater Long Beach for over five years where she managed after school literacy programs heavily focused on community collaboration and parent involvement.  Prior to that she was a Coordinator for the Bilingual Foundation of the Arts where she coordinated a health education program funded by Prop 99 -Tobacco Control.  As a Community Organizer for Strategic Concepts in Organizing and Policy Education (SCOPE) she worked to organize community members in the Silver Lake, Hollywood and Echo Park communities to wage campaigns to make job creation, quality health care, and job training top priorities for elected officials and decision makers. Maritza's own educational journey, which began as a farm worker, compels her to work for higher education access for all and the creation of support systems for underrepresented students.  She seldom misses an opportunity to mention that she is from California's Central Valley.

Jose A Andrade is a History-Social Studies teacher in South Los Angeles. He has worked on providing talented and deserving young people opportunities to pursue post secondary education despite their legal status.

Prior to entering the teaching profession, Jose attended Pasadena City College and later transferred to San Diego State University, where he earned a B.A in Social Science. During his time as undergraduate student, Jose was actively involved in El Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano/a de Aztlan (M.E.Ch.A). It was through his participation in M.E.Ch.A, that he began his commitment to educational access to all talented and deserving young people. This commitment continues through his involvement in C.O.R.E.  

Jaime L. Del Razo is a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University.  He holds a Ph.D. in Education from the University of California, Los Angeles.  His research interests include college matriculation of undocumented students, critical race theory, and higher education issues of access and equity.  He is co-founder and a coordinator for College Is For Everyone (CIFE), an organization that provides college information and support for undocumented students in Compton, California.

Prior to attending graduate school, Jaime served as Director of UC Irvine's Mathematics Engineering Science Achievement (MESA) Schools program where he helped educationally disadvantaged students attend college.  He has also worked as a high school math teacher at Dominguez High School in Compton, California.  He holds a Bachelor of Arts (A.B.) in Rhetoric from the University of California, Berkeley and an Associate of Arts (A.A.) from Pasadena City College.  During his undergraduate years, he was active in the college recruitment of Chicano/Latino students and in Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan (MEChA).  Born in East Los Angeles, Jaime was raised in neighboring Boyle Heights and graduated from Montebello High School.  He served in the US Army prior to attending college and is a Gulf War veteran.

Who We Are

We are  individuals from a variety of fields and occupations concerned with educational issues as they relate to the Chicano/Latino community.