About Ángel

As a self-identified first generation queer Latinx scholar, my passion lies in making a difference in my comunidad through my education. I am son to immigrant parents, Guadalupe y Miguel Ángel. As the brother to three sisters, a tio to seven nieces and nephews, I carry them wherever I go, in all that I do. My familia are the foundation and pillars of my successes, they are at the heart of who I am.

I was born and raised in South LA, South Gate and Bell Gardens, California. I want to empower individuals to reach their highest potential by fostering environments that advocate for social justice and equity. My passion to support Latinxs is innate to who I am, and reflection of my owned lived experience which creates the catalyst that moves me forward to pave the way para los que siguen.

I earned an M.A in Post-Secondary Educational Leadership with a Specialization in Student Affairs from San Diego State University (SDSU) and received a B.A. from Whittier College where I doubled majored in Environmental Science and Spanish. 

Navigating the Doctoral Journey

Currently, I am a third-year doctoral student at San Diego State University in their Community College Leadership program (CCLEAD) and serve as a Graduate Research Associate for the American Council on Education (ACE).

​My dissertation is a qualitative study that examines the experiences of Latinx community college administrators (mid-to-senior level) through a grounded theory approach of testimonios (personal story telling) and queer chisme (gossip) sessions in the development of Latinx leadership.

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Research Interests:

​As a researcher, my research agenda and passions include:
(1) conditions, experiences, and outcomes in community colleges for minoritized students with an emphasis on LGBTQ+ and Latinx students;
(2) Latinx student identity development at the intersections of queerness and latinidad;
(3) racial equity policy implementation.

​My inquiry includes both qualitative and quantitative methods such as queer phenomenology, interviews, testimonio, focus group, queer chisme, critical policy analysis, observational strategies, descriptive analysis, OLS regressions, and content analysis.

Leadership

I am the Managing Editor for two journals, the Journal of Applied Research in the Community College (JARCC) and a special issue of the Education Policy Analysis Archives (EPAA). Furthermore, I sit on the Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice (JSARP) as a graduate board member and as a reviewer for the Community College Journal of Research and Practice (CCJRP).

I am also currently a TELACU Graduate Fellow and was recently awarded the NASPA Latinx/a/o Knowledge Community Outstanding Doctoral Student award. I am an active participant in a variety of professional associations such as the American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education (AAHHE), American Educational Research Association (AERA), American College Personnel Association (ACPA), Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE), Council for the Study of Community Colleges (CSCC), National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA), and others.

​I have both presented at and been chosen for scholarly experiences such as the ASHE Graduate Student Policy Seminar and AERA’s Division J Emerging Scholars Program.

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