Academia Avance Leadership Team
Ricardo Mireles - Executive Director
Mr. Mireles initiated the development team for Academia Avance in the Summer of 2004, following his work with the launch team of the California Charter Schools Association. This was his crash course on charters schools, after spending four years at the Los Angeles Unified School District. At the LAUSD he was part of the team that in 2000 launched the planning and construction of 160 new schools.
Mr. Mireles brings to Avance Schools a broad range of experiences in applying technology to the fields of public transportation infrastructure management and planning, school construction, and political campaigns. Mr. Mireles has taught at the UCLA School of Public Policy and Social Research, and at the Don Bosco Technical Institute. He completed a fellowship in public affairs with the Coro Foundation - New York City in 1990, returning to Coro in the Summer of 1993 as a youth leadership co-trainer in the South Bronx.
He is a graduate of the Don Bosco Technical Institute, has a B.A. in Anthropology from Columbia College, and has completed graduate work in urban planning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Guillermo Gutiérrez - Principal
Mr. Gutiérrez joined Academia Avance during the Spring of the 2006-2007 academic year. He is an educator with over 20 years of experience having served in a variety of leadership and administrative roles, as well as a history instructor and coach. He comes to Avance after having served as Principal and Vice Principal of the Don Bosco Technical Institute combined for six years. In these roles he was responsible for the daily operations of this premiere technical school of 1,100 students with over 90 faculty members. He also has been on the administration team at the St. John Bosco College Preparatory.
Mr. Gutiérrez is a graduate of the Don Bosco Technical Institute, and holds a B.A. in History from UCLA, and a Master's in Education from Stanford University.