Candidate for
Board Member; East Side Union High School District

Leo Cortez is currently running for the office of East Side Union High School Board of Trustees in San Jose, California.

Professional Experience: Cortez is a university relations and human resources professional who has been working with Silicon Valley powerhouses for the past decade. He has served as a university relations and human resources manager and consultant to several organizations, including Yahoo! Inc. and Cisco Systems. He develops HR policies and procedures to improve employee and management performance as well as provides university recruitment programs and training.

Education Experience: Prior to his role in the high tech industry, Cortez had a strong focus on his career in education. He served as Vice Principal for the Franklin-McKinley School District from 1998-2001 where he developed a plan to increase school safety, lower student truancy and boost parental involvement. From 1996-1998 Cortez was a history teacher at Buchser Middle School in Santa Clara and served in the Promotion and Retention Committee to develop a district-wide student retention plan. At North Monterey County High School in Castroville, CA, Cortez taught courses in English and Spanish to ELD students including Algebra 1, Biology, Health, Civics and ESL from 1992-1996. He was elected to the school's restructuring board, which managed a 2.5 million dollar budget over a five-year period. Cortez also coached the boys varsity soccer and girls cross country teams at NMCHS.

Affiliations: Board Member: School Site Council, JFS in Evergreen School District Board Member: USC Mexican American Alumni Association, 2007-Present Vice President: B.O.D. CONEXION an affinity group at Cisco, 2004-2006 President: B.O.D. Resources for Families and Communities (RFC), 2004-2006 Treasurer: B.O.D. CONEXION an affinity group at Cisco, 2003-2004 Vice President: B.O.D. Resources for Families and Communities (RFC), 2003-2004 President: Association of California School Administrators- Evergreen Valley Chapter, 2000-2001

Commitment to Community: As a teacher, Cortez has taught his students to believe in themselves and to set high expectations. He embraces the concepts of "paying it forward" and "servant leadership" and strongly believes in giving back to the community. As a mentor, Cortez considers himself lucky to have had influential people to guide him through his education, career and life. Therefore, he also mentors and coaches young professionals as they enter the workforce to increase their success and position them for career advancement. As a parent, Cortez is involved in School Site Council at his children's school and has been an active parent and member of the PTA for the past five years at James Franklin Smith Elementary School, which was awarded Distinguished School this past year for parent involvement. He has also worked closely with parents and students to increase their knowledge of A-G college requirements, financial aid and alternative programs to help students pursue higher education.