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Background of the Avalos

Background of the Avalos Arnoldo Avalos defines the America dream, coming from humble beginnings to achieve financial and social mobility. Arnoldo emigrated from a small agricultural town of Juchitlan Jalisco to another small town of Gridley California in the upper Sacramento Valley. As the youngest of seven siblings, Arnoldo and his family worked as migrant farm workers toiling in the peach, prune, and cherry orchards to survive. During the summers, the familia Avalos traveled to Oregon, Washington, and Montana following the seasonal fruit harvest. Arnoldo was driven and determined to have a better life and leave the arduous migrant lifestyle; education was a vehicle for a better life. Arnoldo graduated from Gridley High School and participated as a Congressional Intern working for the US House of Representatives Committee on Agriculture before arriving at the University of California, Berkeley. Arnoldo, subsequently, graduated with honors from Cal with a History Degree. He received a master’s degree in Government from Harvard University. Arnoldo has worked for very successful including globally reputable companies: Cisco Systems, Google, and Facebook mostly in the areas of Human Resources. Arnoldo sits on various non-profit community boards, the Latino Community Foundation, and Hermanos Unidos. Recently, California’s Governor Brown appointed Arnoldo to the California Community College Board of Governors where he helps to oversee 113 Community Colleges.

Alma-Ruth Gutierrez-Avalos was born in the Los Angeles but raised in Ciudad Guzman, Jalisco Mexico. When Alma-Ruth arrived from Mexico at the age of seventeen and speaking very limited English she was determined to do well in school and go to college. With the support of her mother and the guidance of her high school counselor she graduated from Chico High School and attended the University of California at Berkeley. While at CAL, she joined Gamma Phi Beta sorority, where she learned the importance of community service and philanthropy. She volunteered as a tutor in a Berkeley area school. Alma-Ruth graduated from CAL with a Social Science degree, and a French minor. Immediately after graduation, she started working with inner-city youth as an elementary school teacher in Hayward, California. Alma Ruth continued her education by receiving a Master’s in Educational Leadership from Cal State East Bay. She currently works for the Pleasanton School District as a Dual Immersion Spanish & English elementary school teacher. Alma-Ruth is very passionate about educating youth and helping kids exceed their own expectations. She is very involved with the Latino community in Pleasanton helping to support what she believes is the next generation of leaders in California.