Paola is the eldest daughter of Mexican immigrant parents. In 2015, Paola co-founded Technology Leadership High School together with Kara Cortazzo and Tony Monfiletto from the New Mexico Center for School Leadership. Most recently Paola serves as a K-12 Education Program Officer at the Walton Foundation (WFF) where she is responsible for leading strategic investments in Puerto Rico that catalyze community-driven education, meeting the needs of the most vulnerable youth and supporting effective policy.additionally, Paola makes sound and impactful investments that serve the policy needs of immigrant families, English Learners, and families living in poverty in California, Texas and nationally. 

Prior to WFF, Paola lead consulting engagements with Achieve Mission serving dozens of national nonprofits such as the NACA Inspired Schools Network, Health Leadership High School, Harlem Children’s Zone, Detroit Hispanic Development Corporation, Louisiana Public Health Institute, National Council on Crime and Delinquency among others. Paola has deep experience designing, coaching, and implementing effective practices to improve human capital in educational and health settings. Paola built the foundation of her career in global public health, holding a number of epidemiology and national health systems-related positions in more than ten countries across Africa and Latin America, including as Pediatric Program Coordinator with the Clinton Foundation HIV/AIDS Initiative in Lesotho. Paola earned her doctorate from Harvard University in Education Leadership (Ed.L.D.) where she currently serves as Elected Director of the Harvard Alumni Association Board of Directors. She received her MSc from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and her BA in Sociology from Dartmouth College. She is fluent in Spanish, French and Italian. Paola lives in Albuquerque with her two sons, Diego and Francisco. 

John is a partner at the law firm or Duran and McDonald, LLC. John’s primary areas of practice are in children’s law, criminal defense and personal injury. Prior to forming Duran and McDonald, John had his own practice focusing on civil litigation and representing children in the areas of abuse and neglect. He graduated from the University of New Mexico in 2000 and subsequently went on to graduate from Thomas Jefferson School of Law in San Diego, CA. John is from Albuquerque and went to a public school in the Southeast Heights. 

Tina Hernandez is a Senior Manager of the Global Nuclear Security and Nonproliferation at Sandia National Laboratories (SNL). In the last decade at SNL, Tina has worked in critical technology development to support various national security missions. Prior to joining SNL, Tina spent almost a decade in private industry. Her career began at Ford Motor Company where she led various product development and systems engineering projects associated with Powertrain design and battery electric vehicle systems integration. Prior to her work at Ford, she worked at various international companies including Alstom (Switzerland), Siemens (Erlangen, Germany), and BMW (University of Stuttgart/Munich). She is currently an elected member at large of the Institute for Nuclear Materials Management and president of its Southwest Chapter. Tina holds B.S. and M.S. (focus on renewable energies) degrees in mechanical engineering from the University of New Mexico and the University of Applied Science in Offenburg, Germany, respectively. As an immigrant brought to the US at a young age, Tina learned first-hand how to navigate the complexities of integrating into an unfamiliar culture and language. In fact, she was in Albuquerque Public Schools (APS) English as a Second Language (ESL) for most of elementary school. She is now fluent in 5 languages and enjoys traveling and learning about other cultures. She graduated from Del Norte High School in Albuquerque. She is married with 2 sons who both are both APS students . In her free time, Tina enjoys spending time outdoors with her family, cooking, and participating in CrossFit classes and competitions.