ABOUT ME |
"I'm running for North Orange County Community College District to give back to the schools that changed my life."
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MAKING A DIFFERENCE
Miguel Alvarez is an educational policy expert and advocate for our students. He was raised right here in north Orange County, and is running to represent all of us here in the community. If elected, Miguel will be the first openly LGBT+ Latinx trustee on the North Orange County Community College District board. Despite growing up with very little, Miguel was determined to make a difference from a young age, Miguel made an early habit of volunteering and getting involved in his community. Knowing the pivotal role education had played in his own life, Miguel dedicated hundreds of hours to mentoring and tutoring students in the Fullerton and Anaheim public schools – reading to them, helping them with homework, and encouraging them to go to college. While attending Fullerton College, he worked with the “Fullerton Dream Team” to organize on behalf of undocumented students and to raise funds to assist with their education. He was named as a “Man of Distinction” at Fullerton College and served as the Associated Students Executive. Miguel remains active as an advocate for students. He has worked in educational management and policy for nearly a decade. Additionally, Miguel organized the community around increasing parent engagement in education, and orchestrated several voter registration drives among parents as well to fight for higher budgets and expanded opportunity at the ballot box. He also served as the President of the Richmond Promise Board of Directors, a college-access non-profit which provided hundreds of scholarships to underrepresented students . As the founding director of the Contra Costa Community College Promise program, he built partnerships with universities across the California system and supported over 500 students in transitioning to the community college from K-12 and securing admissions to top tier universities. Like many in the district, Miguel comes from a family of hardworking immigrants. Miguel’s father came to the United States from El Salvador in the 1980s, fleeing from war and in search of a better life. His mother’s family emigrated from Mexico. His parents met in Fullerton, where they attended Fullerton High School. Miguel followed in their footsteps and attended Fullerton public schools throughout his education, including Richman Elementary, Laguna Road, Ladera Vista Junior High School, and Fullerton College, before receiving his degree from UCLA. He is a first-generation college graduate, the first of his family to graduate from college. |
